Paths Untaken
by Pulsar
Summary: An Alternate Universe fic, set during Myotismon's rampages in Odaiba. What if the Digidestined of 02 had their paths intertwine with those of the 01 Digidestined during the war on their home world?
1. Introduction to a New Reality

I do not own Digimon. Now, I don't know if this has been done yet or not (it's hard to tell with all the Digimon stories here…), but this is a story I came up with while watching the second season. Specifically, it was the episode where the new Digidestined mention their first encounters with Digimon (was that the "Samurai of Sincerity" ep?), and Daisuke says that he was one of the kids who was kidnapped by Myotismon's henchmon during his attack. That started me thinking, and was the starting point of this fanfic. Please keep in mind while reading this that this is a "What If…" fanfic, so many of the events in this differ from those in the television series. Certain plot twists simply did not occur in the actual series, but happen here, so don't get on my case for not being exactly in keeping with that story. This is alternate universe, not what really happened. That's what makes these sort of stories so much fun to write!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

__

(In a world of infinite possibilities, there are many paths that emerge. For each choice made, no matter how big or how small it may seem, a new road appears, and with it a thousand more possibilities. These paths often cross, and at these points may entwine or branch apart again. There is no way of knowing for certain where each path may lead, or what might have happened if you had done something another way. All one can do is stumble through life, operating on the simple hope that there will be an answer, that things will work out.)

(Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't.)

(For the Digidestined children, the battle with Myotismon on their home world was a long and costly one, yet one that they managed to eventually win. But who is to say that things might have been different, if events had gone differently for them? Later on in life, they were to meet up with a few more selected children, whose paths they had already crossed –although without knowing or realizing it – back in the past.)

(What if they had met back then? And what if other things had occurred in the past that had changed the paths of those other children and Digimon?)

(In another place, another time, one of the roads untaken is slowly spreading out before the young Digidestined. Only time will tell if they will be able to traverse this road safely, or if they will stumble and fall along the way…) 

"Let go of my sister, you jerk!"

Demidevimon glanced down at the eight-year old boy that howled this and smirked, digging his claws a little deeper into the scalp of the terrified young girl. She let a small squeal of pain that quickly turned into a whimper, and the boy's scowl grew deeper, his small hands clenching into shaking fists. Deep brown eyes darkened with rage, rage that only amused the small bat-like Digimon. Humans were so weak; he couldn't believe that he had been so worried when Myotismon had first revealed his plan of coming to the human's world in search of the lost Digidestined. Their few encounters with the Digidestined children before then had led Demidevimon to think that all humans were powerful creatures, but now he understood that those pests were the apparent exceptions to the rule; most humans were helpless in the face of powerful Digimon.

And this child, this little boy with wide brown eyes and frizzy brown hair, he was no different, as strong and brave as he was trying to look. His hands were balled into fists, yet surely he understood that he was helpless, that he could do nothing to stop Demidevimon from doing whatever he pleased. Surely…

__

WHAP!

And then again, maybe not.

"Sir Demidevimon, are you all right?" a Bakemon asked, hovering over the spiral-eyed bat. Shaking his head to clear it, Demidevimon did not bother to answer such a stupid question, and instead glared icily at the little boy, who was now standing protectively in front of his elder sister, who stared at him in shock. She appeared to be just as stunned as the evil Digimon was that her little brother had actually had the guts to strike him like that.

Demidevimon's vision blurred a little, and he squinted irritably at the boy, not wanting to lose sight of him in case he decided to hit him again. Something about the way the boy looked nagged at the back of his mind, something he couldn't quite place…

Suddenly he knew. His yellow eyes widened with shock as he realized what it was that bothered him: if one looked at him in just the right way, he bore a startling resemblance to the leader of those accursed Digidestined kids! His battle-ready stance and determined expression only added to the impression, and the evil Digimon felt a cold chill go down his back as a startlingly clear image of this child wearing a glowing Crest around his neck surged into his mind…

__

Is he…the one? The one Master Myotismon is searching for?

Despite the throbbing pain in his jaw, Demidevimon smirked. Even if his hunch proved wrong, there was no real harm in bringing this brat to his master's attention. Master Myotismon would be very interested in meeting any human that dared oppose him…and Digidestined or not, his punishment for fighting back would surely prove amusing.

"Take him to the master!" Demidevimon ordered, a leering grin on his face. The Bakemon obeyed at once, and the older girl screamed in terror as the ghost Digimon seized her little brother and started to drag him away. The boy resisted, kicking and punching at them, then squirming wildly as their cold hands clamped onto his arms and legs.

"Daisuke!" the girl called miserably, reaching out a helpless hand to her brother. She cried out as Demidevimon kicked away her hand, and he grinned evilly at her before following after the Bakemon. She watched them go, wide brown eyes filling with tears, then she covered her face and wept, shoulders quaking.

* * *

So many children had been taken hostage, that many were being crowded into different rooms. In another room, another young girl with wide tan eyes was worried, but for a different reason. Brushing a few stray locks of strawberry blond hair away from her face, this ten-year-old nervously tightened her clammy fingers around a piece of jewelry that hung hidden under her pink nightshirt. It was only a tiny little thing, a small trinket that someone might have passed off as a worthless trinket if they had no prior knowledge of what it was.

But if she were caught with it, it would mean her death.

Mimi Tachikawa sighed and shivered with fear. The Crest of Sincerity – also known by some as the Crest of Purity, although she wasn't entirely certain either title fit her – felt cold under her grasp, a presence that was both reassuring and frightening at the same time. While having it with her reminded her that there was still a chance to win against Myotismon and his henchmon, at the same time, she also knew that if she was found with it, it would surely mean her death. All it would take would be one mistake…one tiny little slip, a quick glimpse of it by the wrong eyes…and it would be all over.

A sudden scream took her off guard, and she hastily released her grip and brought her hands up in front of her, praying that she hadn't been detected. Looking around, she saw a group of Bakemon throwing some new children into the room, ignoring their wails of protest.

"Get those brats from the plane in here!" one of them hissed through jagged teeth, beady black eyes raking the new arrivals as they roughly landed in the room. Then the doors slammed shut again, and Mimi found herself pushing her way through the crowd, soon making her way to where the latest victims were sobbing and wailing, looking around in obvious fear.

One of these children caught her attention in particular; a little boy who couldn't have been more than five years old, who was studying those around him with a remarkably calm demeanor, considering how he had arrived there. His piercingly bright green eyes swept the area, and seemed to lock with hers for a moment before moving on. Mimi found herself staring at him, feeling oddly drawn to the uncannily solemn young boy. Something she had seen in those deep verdant pools reminded her of something she couldn't quite put her finger on…

A purple-haired girl suddenly pushed past her, nearly knocking Mimi to the floor, and she turned around to hastily apologize. She ducked her head in a clumsy half-bow, pushed her crooked glasses back onto her nose, and mumbled, "Gomen nasai…"

Mimi shrugged it off, and studied the younger girl's face for a moment; she looked to be only a little younger, maybe about nine years old, and her violet hair was almost as long as Mimi's was. The girl readjusted her glasses again, and Mimi noticed that her cheeks were streaked slightly, as if she had been crying. She probably had been: everything that was happening was undoubtedly frightening the poor child out of her wits, just like everyone else.

The purple-haired girl had crouched down next to the little boy with the startling green eyes, and was talking in a soothing tone to him. He regarded her quietly, without saying a word in reply; Mimi had never seen such a solemn-looking five-year-old before. Of course, considering the situation, it was possible that he was in shock…

The girl with glasses was talking softly, trying to comfort the new arrivals. Mimi had to admire this kid a little: she was just as terrified as everyone else, but she was struggling to keep her own fears hidden and trying to help those around her stay calm. Deciding to follow her example, Mimi walked over next to them and knelt down, quietly speaking to another sobbing child who had been thrown into the room.

* * *

A young boy crouched in the shadows of an alleyway, warily watching a Bakemon squadron pass by his hiding place on patrol. Navy blue hair, so dark as to be almost black, hung in sweaty strands into his eyes, partially hiding alarmingly piercing violet-blue eyes, and he hugged a small parcel to his heaving chest with trembling arms. The packet was crudely made; it was really the tattered remains of a pillowcase from his bedroom, which right now was far away from where he was, perhaps never to be seen again. Its precious contents shifted slightly, and the boy hugged the packet closer to his heaving chest, heart pounding wildly against his bruised ribcage.

To say that he was frightened would have been a woeful understatement. Mere words could never describe the feelings that raged deep in his tortured mind, behind eyes that had already seen too much, far too much for any eight-year-old boy to possibly be able to bear.

His older brother was dead. His parents might be dead as well, for all he knew: he had not seen them since they had sent him and his brother into their room with a quick kiss goodnight for each of them. Perhaps that simple peck on the cheek would be the last contact he would ever have with his mother; he had no way of knowing.

Everything had happened so quickly, yet the events were etched clearly into his memory; as he had walked over to the dresser to retrieve his pajamas, the computer perched on his brother's desk had suddenly begun to glow. Both boys had stared at it, entranced, as the screen glowed with a radiant white light, despite the fact that neither had touched it nor turned it on.

Then something had emerged; a small electronic device that even his elder brother did not recognize, and a small egg. For some reason, he had felt drawn to both, but his brother warned him not to touch either, saying that it might be dangerous. Of course, he knew that his elder brother was just as curious about it as he was, and soon they were both touching it, stroking its oddly warm surface and wondering what exactly it was. The electronic device had interested them, too, and his brother had studied it intently, his eyes narrowing with thought behind his thick glasses.

"What do you think they are, Sam?" he had finally asked, using his nickname for his elder brother, cradling the strange egg in his lap.

Before his brother could answer, however, there was a loud crash out in the hall, quickly followed by a horrible scream: his mother's scream. Sam bolted to his feet and ran to the door, about to throw it open, but then for some strange reason, he hadn't. Some instinct apparently warned him not to, and instead he had pressed his ear against the door, listening to words his younger brother could not hear. Standing, still holding the egg in both arms, he had studied his elder brother's solemn face with growing alarm, not knowing what was happening.

"Osamu?" he had asked, uncertain.

"Ken, I think we should leave. Now," he had replied, in a voice that brooked no argument. He had only been able to nod agreement, and Osamu had dashed over to the bed, yanking a pillow from the bed and roughly stripped off its covering, handing the pillowcase to his younger brother. Wordlessly, they had set the egg and the unusual device inside, and then his elder brother handed him the makeshift package with instructions to keep a tight grip on it. Again, he could only nod in reply.

A thrown open window, a hand up, and then he had found himself standing with shaking knees on the fire escape, wide eyes locked on the streets so far below. Osamu's angry voice rang in his mind, ordering him to run, then a splintering of wood behind them caused both to turn.

Hideous creatures, with white robes and pointy, jagged teeth, erupted into their bedroom, and one, the largest of them all and the one who wore a red mask and carried the most wickedly curved scythe he had ever seen, pointed at them. Barking out a gruff command, it then led the other horrible monsters toward the two boys with a speed the terrified eight-year-old could not believe.

"KEN! GO!"

A rough shove on his back, and suddenly he was falling, falling, falling endlessly. Twisting around in midair, he caught a glimpse of terror as the leader's weapon tore into his brother's throat. A trail of red gushed into midair from the older boy's neck, a sight he thankfully only got the barest glimpse of before darkness flashed across his eyes and his back struck garbage. Sinking into the reeking depths of the disposal, he had temporarily lost consciousness, and awakened to find himself alone, with only the bundle clutched with white-knuckled hands to his chest for companionship, staring up at the lifeless form that remained sprawled motionless on the balcony far above him. He had known at once who that was, and he had wept quietly for Osamu before he forced himself to face his situation. Pulling himself out of the dumpster, he had been on the run since that moment, desperately trying to avoid detection.

He could not cry. Not anymore. He had wept for his brother, for his poor parents, and for himself, until he could no longer force the tears to come. Now, there was only survival. Nothing else mattered anymore. For all he knew, he was now the last member of his family alive, and for the sake of the Ichijouji line, he would not cry anymore. He would not cry. He would not…

The packet moved again, and part of the sheet fell away to reveal a wide bluish-black eye peeking out at him. Ken glanced down at it, not as alarmed as he had first been when the egg had suddenly hatched on him, and hastily moved to cover it again.

"Stop moving so much, Leafmon," he hissed through gritted teeth. "I don't want to drop you…"

A Bakemon floated past, a little too close for the boy's comfort, and he slunk farther back into the shadows, watching the ghost Digimon with glittering violet-blue eyes, waiting with bated breath for it to leave.

* * *

"Don't let him get away!"

"Hey, you, stop!"

"Get back here!"

The angry shouts behind him only caused the young blonde boy to run even faster and his sneakers pounded against the wet city streets as he forced strength to his legs. Wide green eyes shone with fear as he cast a quick glance over his shoulder at his pursuers, and he turned his attention back to his companions, who were running as fast as their tiny bodies could handle.

"Gummimon! Kokomon! Hurry up!" he cried, urging them on. The baby Digimon complied as best they could, even though they were obviously tired.

"Wallace!" one of them, Gummimon, called. The eight-year-old boy looked back and instantly realized the problem: the light green Digimon had fallen, and was laying sprawled out in a puddle of water, struggling to regain his balance. Skidding to a stop, Wallace dashed back to his friend's side, even though he knew that doing so might mean his own capture. Already the Bakemon were nearly upon the fallen baby, ready to seize him.

"Wallace! Gummimon!" Kokomon screamed, hopping back toward them. Wallace waved him off, not wanting for all of them to be caught, but the pink Digimon ignored him, as usual. If this was the end, all of them would face it together. The Bakemon bore down upon them…

"Hey, look out!"

Something jumped in front of them and attacked the Virus Digimon, destroying the leader immediately. Before the other shocked Bakemon could react, the strange new Digimon turned round and kicked up a dust cloud, blinding them. Coughing, Wallace somehow found and scooped up Gummimon and Kokomon, and as he stumbled away, he felt a hard surface slip under his hand.

"Stay with me, you guys; I'll get you out of here, no problem!"

The boy had no choice but to obey, and he kept one hand resting on the smooth surface of the new Digimon's armor-plated back as it ran off as fast as its short legs could carry it. He followed it into an old building, and as he slid to the floor with a grateful sigh, his rescuer turned to face him with a friendly smile.

"Howdy, kid. My name's Armadillomon, nice to meet you. Now, what's a nice kid like you doing in a war zone like this?"

"I…don't know," the young boy admitted, pulling his trembling knees to his chest. "I just arrived here a little while ago…there was this light, see, from my computer, and when I went to check it out, thinking that it might be another Digiegg…"

"Ah, yeah, I noticed that you had some Digimon friends," Armadillomon commented, looking at the two In-Training Digimon with an arched eyebrow. "Was wondering how you met them…uh…Wallace?"

The boy nodded, letting the new Digimon know that he had gotten his name right. "Well, earlier this week, I was in my room when my computer screen suddenly started glowing, even though it wasn't plugged in. When I went to see what was going on, an egg with these two inside of it popped out, along with this really weird toy…hang on," and he dug through his pockets, soon producing a small electronic device which he held out for his new friend to inspect. Armadillomon cocked his head to one side as he studied it, green eyes clearly showing confusion.

"Anyway, my computer started glowing again earlier today, and I thought another Digiegg was coming, so I went to get a closer look…but instead, I got pulled in, and ended up here…I don't know how."

Wallace shuddered again, obviously frightened, and his two Digimon exchanged a worried look before cuddling up against his trembling sides. After a moment, the blond-haired child raised inquiring emerald eyes to lock with Armadillomon's own.

"Hey…why are you here?" he asked. "And why did you help me out back there?"

Now Armadillomon shuddered, and he gave the boy a slightly sorrowful look before saying, slowly, "Let's just say I want to help a friend of mine, okay?"

Wallace nodded in reply; even though he was only eight years old, he still understood how sometimes it is best not to push the subject, no matter how curious you might be about something.

* * *

Gatomon gritted her teeth to keep from crying out as the lash tore into the soft fur on her back again, refusing to show her suffering. It was one of the few ways left for her to openly resist Myotismon, now that she had been captured, and even though she knew that doing so would only bring more pain, she still refused to give in to him. As long as Hikari was still free, still out of his reach, then she didn't care how much she had to suffer. She had borne more than her fair share of suffering and pain in the past, and she would continue to do so now.

Finally he grew weary of torturing her, and flung her roughly into her cage, locking the door behind her as she slammed against cold metal bars. As he strode out of the room, Gatomon glared around at the flunkies he had left to guard her, sapphire eyes gleaming with disgust. If she weren't trapped in here, these stupid Bakemon would have been no match for her. In fact, there was only one Digimon in this entire room that might have given her a run for the money if she fought. While he was only a Rookie level Digimon, she had trained him herself ever since he had joined Myotismon's soldiers, and she was fully aware of the fact that he knew all of her moves from their sessions together. Of course, she also knew his moves, but there were other factors that would tip the scales in his favor during a fight…

…One of those factors being the fact that she pitied him.

The fact that they had trained together was not the only thing that they had in common. Like her, he had been forced into service, captured when he and his friend had attempted to flee from what remained of the shrine where they had lived. His friend had managed to escape somehow, but he had not been so lucky, and had been eventually overpowered by the Bakemon, of all things. The ghost type Digimon were dense, but in vast numbers could prove a very real threat, as he had learned.

Myotismon took an interest in him, mainly because of the terrific fight he had put up before being captured, and offered him a deal of sorts; if he willingly joined his ranks and became one of his warriors, they would not continue to pursue his friend. If he refused, of course, they would track down his friend and delete him. Without much real choice, he had agreed to the deal, and Gatomon had been assigned to training him.

Now that she had proved to be a traitor, and linked to the lost Digidestined child as well, he was quickly becoming one of Myotismon's most trusted warriors, and undoubtedly soon would become a general just as she had been. Not that she was jealous, of course; she knew that sooner or later, all those that served the darkness would be defeated by the Digidestined, including young Hawkmon…

As if he sensed that she was looking at him, the Digimon turned and locked eyes with her for a few fleeting moments, his light blue eyes as cold as ice. Turning away, he readjusted the razor-like feather that stuck out of his headband, and continued his rounds, occasionally glancing back in her direction to make certain that she would not try to escape. As if she could escape in her condition… Sinking to the floor of her prison with a sigh, the white cat Digimon looked up dully, sapphire eyes shining as she silently wondered about where the lost Digidestined was, hoping that she was safe from Myotismon's searching forces.

__

Please be safe…Hikari…

* * *

"Tai, do you have to leave?"

Taichi sighed and scratched the back of his head nervously as he eyed the little girl in front of him, not certain what to say. The girl's huge, expressive chestnut brown eyes shimmered with fear, fear not so much for herself as it was for her elder brother's safety, his safety and that of his friends. He looked at his three human companions for help; all of them avoided his pleading gaze, save for one, and the helpless shrug she gave him was of little help.

Fortunately, his other companions were more helpful. The four digimon gathered around the girl and attempted to soothe her, and one of them, Agumon, smiled reassuringly and mimicked a thumbs-up as best he could with his clawed hands. He had seen the effect the gesture had on the other Chosen Children when his partner used it, and he was rewarded with a slight smile from the girl.

"Don't worry, Kari-chan!" he said, using the nickname he had heard Taichi use several times, "Everything's gonna be okay!"

"Agumon's right, Kari," Taichi added, smiling. "See, I've got it all worked out. Look, Sora, Biyomon, Koushirou, and Tentomon will stay here and protect you, while Matt and I take Agumon and Gabumon and rescue the hostages. We'll get Gatomon and your crest, then we'll meet you guys back here, and then we'll find Mimi, Jyou and TK and get ready to take down that creep Myotismon! Okay?"

Hikari nodded, although she wasn't okay with it at all; she knew that her older brother would go through with his plan with or without her consent, anyway. He smiled again, that same confident grin, and ruffled her hair slightly before turning to the others and nodding. They nodded back, and Yamato signaled for Gabumon and Agumon to follow them outside as they walked out of the room. From what she had heard of their plans earlier, the two were not going to have their partners digivolve until they were as far away as possible from the building where the others were taking refuge. Hopefully, this would keep them out of danger, although that possibility was why Sora and Koushirou were remaining behind with their digimon.

__

If it weren't for me, they would be going to help my brother too. I hope he'll be all right…

Sighing, she sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees. Sensing her concern, Biyomon walked over and sat down beside her, resting her head slightly against the girl's side. Tentomon flitted about nervously, hovering over Koushirou as the ten-year-old boy typed furiously on his Pineapple laptop. The redhead's brow was furrowed slightly in concentration, and his black eyes were locked on the computer screen as his fingers danced over the keys.

"The others are getting closer," he announced at length, flicking a glance over at Sora. "I've picked up the signal from Takeru and Jyou's digivices, and they've apparently seen ours, 'cause they're heading this way."

"That's good," Sora sighed, her shoulders slumping in obvious relief, then she added, "And what about Mimi?"

Koushirou frowned, and he reluctantly shook his head as he admitted, "…No. No, I haven't been able to pick up the signal from her digivice at all. I hope the enemy hasn't caught her…"

Hikari shuddered at the awkward silence that followed that comment. She barely knew Mimi, having met her once or twice for only brief periods of time, but she knew from the way that the others talked about her that she was a sweet girl, if a little self-centered at times. Taichi had taught her a little bit about each of the Digidestined, and he had told her that Mimi carried the Crest of Sincerity or Purity, depending on your view of things, and from what she had picked up from what others had said, she deserved it. Just like how her brother fit with the Crest of Courage, or Sora the Crest of Love…

The idea that somebody as kind and caring as the others said Mimi was might be in the clutches of the enemy…

__

…just like Gatomon…

…frightened her to no end. This whole situation terrified her, in fact. It was almost as if she and the others had been pulled into one of her brother's video games; one where the fate of the entire world…no, wait, two worlds…rested on the shoulders of a few chosen heroes. And she, apparently, was supposed to be one of those heroes.

It was too much. She didn't know if she could handle it. No, she knew she couldn't handle it. But at the same time, she knew she had to; everyone was counting on her, and she couldn't let them down. After all, she figured that none of the others had been ready for the responsibility of saving the worlds, but still they fought as best they could. Even little Takeru…

* * *

Takeru clung to Ikkakumon's soft white fur as he carefully slid to the ground, waiting until he was absolutely certain that his feet were firmly planted on the street before releasing the silky strands. Suddenly the eight-year-old boy thought he had a better understanding of why the water Champion had such long fur in the first place… He raised wide blue eyes to watch as his other human companion, Jyou Kido, helped a Digimon wearing tattered blue robes and a bent wizard's hat to the ground.

"Are you going to be able to walk on your own?" the blue-haired boy asked, his onyx eyes shining with concern behind his thick glasses. The Digimon only nodded silently, and as he took a few faltering steps, Takeru's own Digimon alighted on the boy's head and settled onto his familiar perch. Ikkakumon's form shrank and twisted, and soon Gomamon had paddled up to Jyou to be lifted into his partner's arms.

"Let's hurry," their other companion, Wizardmon, urged. One gloved hand tightened around a small piece of jewelry, and he added, "We have to get this to Hikari and Gatomon as soon as possible!"

Both boys nodded numbly, still a little surprised by the idea that the lost Digidestined they had been searching for had turned out to be right in front of them all this time without them realizing it. Jyou, thankfully, had not chosen to complain about the extremely bad timing for their finally learning this fact; the situation was bad enough as it was. With Myotismon scouring the streets for any sign of the Chosen Children, and them scattered around the way that they were, it was a very bad time to be a good guy.

Jyou checked his digivice's signal again; stealing a glance at Takeru's to confirm its readout. The elder boy was nothing if not overly cautious, and he currently seemed convinced that it was possible for the enemy to mess with the electronic devices' displays, which they might possibly use to try and trick the already scattered Digidestined into revealing themselves. Takeru himself didn't fully understand the theory, but he figured that it was better to just play along with whatever the older boy requested. It was better than fighting with him over it, at any rate, and besides, with evil digimon swarming the city streets, it was better to be overly cautious than to rush into things and risk getting caught…or worse…

Suddenly the digivice bleeped strangely, and Jyou gaped down at the readout. Seeing the expression on the older boy's face, Takeru swallowed nervously and asked, "What's wrong, Jyou?"

"I…don't understand it…but according to this, there is another digivice somewhere nearby," Jyou stammered, holding up the small device so Takeru could get a good look at the display. The younger boy stared at the screen in surprise, then looked up at the older boy with clear confusion in his wide sapphire eyes.

"But why?" he asked. Jyou shook his head, and pushed his glasses back onto his nose with one finger as they slipped out of place.

"I don't know…hey, Wizardmon, do you think this could be Hikari's digivice we're looking at here?" he asked. The robed digimon studied the display for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I thought that Miss Hikari already had her digivice with her…"

"At any rate, we should check it out," Jyou decided, already starting to follow the signal. Takeru and the three digimon followed him, each occasionally glancing around with nervous expressions; eyes darting from shadow to shadow. Although he said nothing aloud, Jyou silently cursed the fact that they were separated from the others. This being brave and walking toward the unknown was more Taichi's style, not his own!

__

(The stage has been set; the players and their places have been introduced. The new path lies waiting in the shadows, ready to be taken if only the chosen can reach it. But the cost of arriving there may be too much for some to bear…and even if they do manage to make it, their new chosen path may lead them to either salvation or destruction.)

(Choices are about to be made…actions about to be taken…and the outcome will be beyond anyone's ability to guess.)


	2. Meetings

__

(A single encounter can change an entire lifetime in one instant. From those who believe in love at first sight, to the simple, shy greetings exchanged by young classmates, to the unfortunates whose paths happen to cross with murderers and thieves, all of them can know that it takes only a moment to turn ones path from its current destination towards another. Whether this new fate is more or less desirable depends on the encounter itself, changing with each situation. It only takes a second to fall in love, to make a new acquaintance, to find a true friend in a total stranger.)

(It also can take a mere second to die. It all depends on luck, on fate, on whatever you want to blame it on. Whatever the cause, it still does not change the fact that everything can change in an instant.)

(And all the trigger that this change may need could be found in any person, anywhere in the world.)

"Hurry, this way!" Taichi called, waving at the small group of children. So far, he and Yamato had managed to sneak unnoticed into one of Myotismon's 'prisons', an otherwise normal building which the evil digimon had converted into a holding place for his victims, and they were currently in the process of leading some of those hostages to safety. Agumon and Gabumon were in their respective Champion forms, Greymon and Garurumon, and several of the kids were staring warily at the digital monsters, having some difficulty in deciding whether or not to trust them. However, the presence of two kids like them, and Taichi and Yamato's constant insisting that these digimon were the good guys, had won the desperate children over. At any rate, it was not like they had much choice; to survive, they had to trust these two boys and their partners with their lives.

"Um…Tai? Little help, here?"

Taichi turned around to see that one of the children they were saving, a ten-year-old girl with cinnamon hair frizzier than Koushirou's, was clinging to the sweating blonde boy's leg. She sobbed uncontrollably, her entire body shaking, and her fingers dug into Yamato's clothes with a death grip.

"Oh-it's-been-terrible-Thank-you-so-much-for-saving-me-but-where's-my-mommy-and-daddy-I-want-Mommy-and-Daddy-and-my-little-brother-They-took-my-little-bro-bro-broth-brother…"

"Calm down, calm down," Taichi soothed, while trying unsuccessfully to pry the terrified girl's fingers off of Yamato's shirt. "What's your name?" he asked, hoping to distract her. The girl looked up at him, her wide brown eyes filled with tears. For some reason, this reminded the bearer of Courage of Mimi, even though this panicking child bore no resemblance to his friend.

"J-Jun…" she managed, sniffling heavily. "They-they took my bro-brother…They took my brother away, 'cause he tried to fight…he fought them for my sake…"

"What's your brother's name?" Yamato asked.

"D-Dai…"

"What?" Taichi asked, turning to look at the sobbing girl. "Did you just say Tai?"

"N-no…Dai's a nickname for my li-little brother, Daisu-suke…" As she said this, the girl gave a convulsive shudder and tightened her grip on Yamato's shirt even more. The blonde boy sweated, but his dark blue eyes became a bit more sympathetic when he heard her words. He understood what it was like to be worried for a younger sibling.

"Okay, don't worry, we're going to rescue everyone, including your little brother," he told her, at the same time attempting to pry her off of him. The girl gasped, and raised a tear-streaked face to stare wonderingly into his eyes.

"You…you really mean it?" she asked, a shaky smile coming to her dirty, tear-streaked face. Yamato managed a confident grin in return, although privately he was beginning to wonder if his shirt would ever be the same after getting this girl's clammy fingers off of it. _IF_ she ever let go.

"We need to get moving," Taichi said, giving the girl's arm a tug in one last attempt to make her let go of Yamato. Surprisingly, she did, and as the blonde boy frantically tried to smooth out his horribly wrinkled shirt, a sweatdropping Taichi distracted Jun by helping her onto Garurumon's back. She seemed to like the wolf digimon; at any rate, she didn't appear to be as intimidated by him as she was by Greymon's presence. Taichi smiled at her, winked knowingly at Yamato, who wasn't exactly happy to see her perched on his Champion's back, and turned to help another child.

And then the world seemed to explode as the building they were behind was abruptly blown apart by a ball of fire, striking the structure hard and fast and turning it into so many tiny pieces of flying steel and ash. As startled screams and shrieks tore through Taichi's ears, the boy whipped around wildly, looking for the cause. His widened bronze eyes soon spotted the problem, and as he stared at the hulking DarkTyrannomon that was rapidly coming toward them, he heard Yamato quietly whisper something that seemed to sum up the entire situation perfectly.

"Ah kuso…"

* * *

Hikari's sudden gasp all but made Sora jump to her feet from shock; the slight sound was nearly deafening after hours of near silence, with the only noise being the clicking of Koushirou's fingers tracing paths across his laptop's keys.

"Kari!" she gasped, startled; the younger girl was staring with wide chestnut eyes into the empty space before her, seeing nothing and yet something, if one could tell by the horrified expression on her face.

"Tai…Taichi!" the younger girl murmured, trembling. Then, those frightened tan eyes winced shut, and as Sora, Koushirou, Biyomon and Tentomon gaped at her in stunned horror she screamed, "TAI LOOK OUT!"

* * *

Wallace nearly leaped a foot into the air, an impressive distance considering that the young American boy was sitting cross-legged on the cold concrete floor. In his arms, his twin digimon shuddered, and all three raised wide eyes to the ceiling.

"Wha…what the heck was that?" Kokomon demanded in a quivering voice, pressing a little closer to Gummimon's side. Armadillomon did not answer, and the animal digimon glared up suspiciously, his squat body tensing.

"I don't know…" he murmured at length, then he suddenly stood and moved toward a set of metal stairs, adding, "But I'm going to find out!"

As he began to carefully make his way up the steep steps, Wallace leapt to his feet and scrambled after him, whispering, "Hey, wait, wait for me!"

* * *

"Run, run, run, run, RUN!" Taichi panted. Okay, so it was a rather strange thing to hear the bearer of Courage say, but when you're being chased by a horde of very pissed-off Bakemon, not to mention one very big and very mean DarkTyrannomon, one tends not to worry about sounding brave. To make matters worse, Garurumon and Greymon were obviously beginning to tire from running so fast, and Taichi sensed that it was only a matter of time before they reverted back to their weaker forms.

On Garurumon's back, Yamato dug his finger's into the lupine's thick blue fur and gritted his teeth, both with suppressed rage and the fact that Jun had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, nearly choking the breath out of him. Of course, he could hardly blame her…the poor girl was scared out of her mind, just like him, although he would never admit it aloud. Other than a handful of kids that were clinging to Greymon's back, plus Taichi, he and she were the only ones who had gotten away safely from the destroyed building.

__

…And what happened to those other kids? Did they get away too? Or did they get caught in the explosion? Ah, kuso, I don't want to think about that. I don't want to think of those kids as being…

"Eek! Matt-sama!" Jun's voice shrieked in his ear.

__

…Matt-sama? Oh well, at least she's not calling me Matt-kun or Matt-chan…

"MATT-SAMA!"

Yamato finally looked up and saw why the frizzy-haired girl was being so loud: a huge insectoid digimon was sweeping toward them at top speed, his sickle-like arms lancing toward their mostly unprotected bodies.

__

…Kuso, kuso, KU-SOOOOO!

Garurumon dodged sharply to one side, and Jun screeched in Yamato's ear again as the force of Snimon's blade passing inches over their heads nearly knocked them off balance. Through narrowed eyes, he saw Taichi and Greymon glance back and hesitate briefly, as if debating whether or not to run back and try to help them out, and he swore inwardly.

"Don't worry about us!" he yelled, ignoring Jun's horrified gasp at his words. "Just get those kids to safety! GO!"

Taichi hesitated, then nodded sharply, and he and Greymon dashed off at top speed, leaving the bearer of Friendship and his partner alone to face the insect digimon by themselves. Gritting his teeth, ignoring the sweat that trickled down his face and matted his already crinkled shirt, trying to ignore how tightly Jun was squeezing his body, Yamato narrowed his flashing blue eyes directly at Snimon and muttered under his breath, "Bring it on…"

* * *

Violet-blue eyes snapped violently open, and the young boy quickly stifled a gasp of surprise. He did not remember falling asleep, and yet he must have, for the sun had changed its position in the darkening sky. Shivering, not so much out of being cold as for fear, Ken struggled to his feet, a difficult task since one of his legs had fallen asleep in an awkward position. As he attempted to rise, a strange noise came to his ears, and he froze.

Voices. Getting closer to where he was.

Fighting back the wave of terror that threatened to engulf him, he fell back farther into the all-concealing shadows, trying to think. He had to get out of this. He couldn't get caught here, not after Osamu had…died, he had to face it, Osamu had died to save him. He couldn't let that sacrifice be in vain!

The voices got closer; Ken pressed himself into a corner of the darkened alleyway, trying to make himself as small as possible so he wouldn't be spotted. One side of the pillowcase parcel fell open, and the wide-eyed creature within tumbled out. Looking up at the boy with worry, the baby digimon then attempted to place himself between Ken and the alleyway, much to the boy's shock.

"Leafmon, get back here!" he hissed through gritted teeth.

"No, Ken!" Leafmon whispered back, shaking his head/body so violently that the small leaf over his eyes trembled. "I'm supposed to protect you, that's what a digimon does! I won't let anyone hurt you, don't worry!"

Somehow, this promise did not reassure Ken at all, but since Leafmon refused to back down, he grudgingly let him be, his mind racing to find a way out of this for both of them. The voices drew nearer and nearer, and the boy glared out of his hiding place, waiting to see what was coming.

Then a small group rounded the corner, and Ken inhaled sharply. This was not the pursuit patrol he had been expecting; this was just a pair of kids and a trio of digimon. The digimon looked nothing like the ones he had been running from; they were a lot smaller, for one thing, and two of them, a white seal-like creature with frizzy red hair and what looked uncannily like a flying orange pig with bat wings for ears, seemed even friendly. He wasn't so certain about the third one, though, with his tattered blue cloak and wizard's hat, but none of them gave him the same bad feeling that the ghost monsters had.

The two children were both boys, and the smaller one appeared to be about the same age as he was. Short blonde hair barely held in place by the strangest-looking cap he had ever seen, the boy was currently looking up at the orange bat-pig thing with wide sapphire eyes, asking a question that Ken could not hear. It was not because they were too far away, however; they were only walking a few feet away from where he crouched in the shadows, and threatened to come closer at any time.

The reason he didn't hear what was being said was because he was staring at the other boy. His breathing quickened as his widened purple eyes locked on the older human's face, unable to tear his gaze away. A weak whisper came from his trembling lips, as a tear threatened to trickle down the side of his pale cheek.

"…O…Osamu…"

He knew, of course, that the young man standing a few feet away from him was not his elder brother; that was impossible, he had seen Osamu's murder with his own eyes. Yet the resemblance was uncanny, from the deep blue shade of his hair to the gentleness of the dark eyes hidden behind his thick glasses. The likeness was uncanny enough to make Ken hesitate, uncertain of what to do next. Sensing the boy's indecision, Leafmon shifted nervously and gazed up at his partner, not paying any attention to the small group until…

"Hi, who are you?"

With a small start, Ken finally realized that the younger of the two boys had noticed him. In fact, the blonde child was walking directly over to where he was, with the bat-pig and the white seal following behind him. The boy who looked like Osamu spotted him as well, and forgot the conversation he had been having with the cloaked digimon. He blinked onyx eyes in surprise, and adjusted his glasses slightly, as if he thought his eyes were deceiving him.

"What in the…what's a kid doing out here?"

"I dunno, Jyou," the blonde child replied, continuing to study a very nervous Ken with curious sapphire eyes. Smiling, he said, "My name's Takeru, but everyone calls me TK. What's yours?"

"K…Ken. Ken Ichijouji," he stammered in reply. One part of his mind was functioning enough to warn him of one danger, and he managed to plop the tattered pillowcase back over Leafmon, hiding the startled baby digimon from view.

"Hiya, Ken!" Takeru said, his smile growing wider. Then he blinked suddenly, and his huge blue eyes shone with curiosity as he asked, "Uh, Ken, why are you here all be yourself? Where's your family?"

That innocent question caused the other eight-year-old's resolve to shatter, and he burst into tears, unable to stop himself. Takeru stared at him in surprise, then understanding dawned on the blonde boy, and he lowered his gaze to the ground, murmuring an ashamed apology.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," Jyou stammered, and he was suddenly on his knees beside the two, struggling to comfort the sobbing young boy. Not knowing what else he could do, he fell back upon something his own older brother had done a few times to comfort him, and ruffled Ken's hair a little. It seemed to work: Ken stopped crying and looked up at him, blinking back the tears that still brimmed in his violet eyes.

"Osamu…" he whispered, then caught himself and averted his gaze to the ground, clutching his tattered packet closer to his chest. Patamon and Gomamon looked at one another, then moved to try and comfort the strange boy. Wizardmon had no real practice in this sort of thing, so he decided it was best for him to hang back and watch.

"It's all right, you'll be safe with us now," Gomamon promised, crawling up and placing his front flippers on the boy's crossed legs. As he did so, one of his long claws happened to clip the edge of the pillowcase, and before any of them realized what was happening, the makeshift package fell over and something small and green rolled out.

Ken gasped in shock. Takeru and Jyou stared at the new arrival in complete astonishment. Wizardmon, Patamon and Gomamon studied it with interest, just as startled as everyone else.

The little digimon righted itself and glared at the five new strangers, a look that was hardly as threatening as he intended it to be. Hopping back to Ken's arms, Leafmon nuzzled into the silent boy's lap, turned to face the strangers, and tried to growl, although the sound came out as more of a squeak.

"I won't let you hurt my master!" Leafmon declared. Jyou's mouth fell open.

"Ma-ma-master?" he stammered, then he whirled to look at Wizardmon. "Okay, what's going on here? I thought you said that Kari was the new Digidestined we were looking for!"

The cloaked digimon looked just as shocked as everybody else was. He looked down at the small piece of jewelry in his hand, then held it up to Ken's face. The strange boy stared at it, trying to figure out its purpose. When nothing happened, Wizardmon took back the Crest and studied it, then looked back over at Ken.

"Well…the Crest didn't react to him the way it did to Hikari, so it's not his," he murmured. "But he most definitely is a Digidestined."

"What? But how can that be? Gennai said…" Jyou stammered.

"I don't understand it, either, but one thing's for certain," Wizardmon interrupted the boy. "If he's a Digidestined, then he's in just as much danger as Hikari and the others are. We can't let Myotismon get his hands on either of them!"

"Yeah…you're right," Jyou agreed, nodding. Gulping to relieve the dryness in his mouth, he got to his feet, pushed his slipping glasses back onto his nose, then turned to Ken and extended his hand, saying, "Let's get going. We have to get you to safety."

Ken hugged Leafmon to his chest and stared at the elder boy's proffered hand warily. His gaze was drawn to Takeru's, and the other eight-year-old boy smiled and nodded reassurance. After a few moments, Ken nodded back, and reached up to take Jyou's hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Come on," Jyou said, "let's go find the others." With that, the small group carefully moved out of the dark alleyway, keeping their eyes open for patrols.

* * *

"A…are you sure this is such a good idea?" Wallace whispered, his voice cracking a little. Armadillomon glanced back at him and nodded slowly.

"We have to see what's up there," he whispered back. "If it's the enemy, I'll fight them off. Stay behind me."

"We can help too," Kokomon offered, squirming in Wallace's white-knuckled grasp. The armored digimon glared at him, green eyes looking suddenly harsh for an instant, and he shook his head.

"Stay behind me," he instructed again, then turned his attention back to the stairs. He moved cautiously, almost agonizingly slow, taking each step as silently as he could. Wallace followed a few steps behind him, wide emerald eyes darting from shadow to shadow. Despite their caution, the metal stairs seemed to squeak almost deafeningly with each footfall.

* * *

Sora, Hikari, Koushirou, Biyomon, and Tentomon sat in terrified silence, listening as the creaking noise drew closer and closer. Putting a finger up to his lips to warn the others to remain quiet, Koushirou began to crawl over to the stairway, Tentomon flying behind him. The redhead over the edge, and inhaled sharply.

"W-what is it?" Sora whispered as quietly as possible, sneaking up beside him. Koushirou glanced back at her with frightened onyx eyes.

"Somebody's coming," he whispered back, "and I don't think it's Tai or any of the others. It might be a patrol of evil digimon…Tentomon?"

"Got it, Izzy," Tentomon whispered back, and as Koushirou glared at the bug digimon for using the silly nickname he had come up with, Tentomon fluttered past him and down the stairs. Since he could fly, he didn't have to walk on the stairs, which meant he didn't run the risk of making noise that could alert the patrol to his presence.

* * *

Armadillomon stopped short, causing Wallace to nearly trip over him. As the young American struggled to maintain his balance and not drop the two In-Training digimon he carried, he stared down at the Rookie and whispered, "What's up?"

"Something's coming," Armadillomon replied, staring up at the top of the stairs. Following his gaze, the boy felt his body tense as he spotted a lone silhouette floating at the top of the stairs. Although its features were mostly hidden by the shadows, he could tell that it was flying, not actually standing on the stairs, and he immediately thought of the one digimon that he knew could fly…

"Bakemon?" he whispered, eyes widening with fear. Armadillomon just grunted, green eyes narrowing slightly, and suddenly he rolled into a ball and bounded off, taking the rest of the stairs at a blinding pace. Wallace dashed after him, barely able to keep up. As he ran, he watched as the balled-up Armadillomon crashed into the shadowy figure, causing it to fall with a sharp cry.

A cry that did NOT sound anything like the Bakemon he had seen earlier.

* * *

"TENTOMON!" Koushirou screamed, forgetting the need to be silent the moment he saw the insect digimon get knocked down so roughly. The only answer he got was a pained cry, and the redhead ran over to the steps at once, not caring anymore about the fact that he was exposing himself to…

__

…A little kid?

He locked eyes with the little boy for a moment, both stunned into paralysis by the sight of one another. Then something in the new child's grasp squirmed, and Koushirou gaped at the pair of little creatures for a moment before…

"WAAAAAHHH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" the strange boy screamed, apparently snapped out of his astonishment by the redhead's shout.

"Koushirou, what's going on…KYAAAAAHHHHH!" Sora's question rose into a shriek as one of the new baby digimon squirmed out of the boy's grasp and leaped at her.

"SORA! KKKYYYAAAAAHHHHH!" Biyomon roared, summoning her Spiral Twister.

"AAAAAHHHHH! KOKOMON!" the blonde boy shouted, reaching out helplessly toward the little digimon as it was knocked off of Sora's head by the green flames. As he stumbled forward, the same ball that had struck Tentomon down bounced past him and straight for Koushirou.

"AAAAA-whumph!" Koushirou grunted as it slammed into his stomach and knocked him down.

"IZZY! HYAAAAHHHHH!" Tentomon shouted, sending a blast of electric energy surging toward the ball.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" it screamed, skidding to a stop and unrolling. The newly exposed digimon hastily tried to cool off his smoking back, and then he turned and glared daggers at the insect digimon.

"HYYAAAAHHH!" he shouted again, leaping at the insect digimon and pinning it down with its own weight. As Tentomon struggled to get up, the strange new child took advantage of everyone's distraction to try and flee. Scooping up the injured digimon in his arms, he turned to run, only to slam right into Hikari.

Both children shrieked as they fell backward off of the metal platform. For a moment, time seemed to freeze, as both sides of the fighting turned to see both of the younger kids fall. Biyomon, the only one of the digimon not fighting or falling, swooped after them, trying to grab them before they hit the ground. Sora opened her mouth to scream, and the crest hidden under her shirt glowed violently. A light the same shade as that soft pink surrounded Biyomon's form.

"Biyomon digivolve to…BIRDAMON!" the avian digimon announced as her body grew and shifted into her Champion form. Massive wings beat against hard metal, bending it harmlessly aside as she dove and caught the plummenting children in one claw. Hastily, knowing that her digivolving could possibly attract attention to their hiding spot, she deposited them and the twin In-Trainings back with the others and changed back into her Rookie form. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then Koushirou turned to lock eyes with the younger boy, quickly cornering him before he could escape.

"Okay, before anything else happens, I have a few questions I need to ask you," he said. The eight-year-old boy backed up a few steps, staring at him nervously, and the redhead smiled crookedly as he added, "And try not to fall off the platform this time."

The boy paused, then smiled back, obviously still frightened by what was going on, but starting to recognize that these people were not enemies, just children like him. In his arms, Gummimon and Kokomon shifted restlessly, and he set them down, noticing how the other children seemed to be interested in them.

"Well, um, I guess I should introduce myself," he said, voice trembling a little. "My name is Wallace, and I come from America. These are my friends, Gummimon and Kokomon."

"Hello, Wallace, Gummimon, Kokomon," Sora said politely, bowing slightly. "My name is Sora, and this is my Digimon, Biyomon."

"My name's Koushirou, and Tentomon over there is my partner," the redhead computer genius said next, pointing over at the insect digimon, who was currently glaring over at the mammal digimon who had arrived.

"I'm Hikari, but all my friends call me Kari," Hikari said. Sitting next to Wallace's digimon, she reached out and stroked the top of Gummimon's head, massaging the soft area beneath his tiny horn. The In-Training crooned happily, and a jealous Kokomon pressed against the girl's outstretched arm, demanding equal attention.

Wallace just gaped at the girl, unable to believe what he was seeing. Noticing the shock in the young blonde's wide green eyes, Koushirou smiled knowingly over at Sora.

"It shouldn't be that big a surprise," he commented mildly, watching the boy's reaction as he added, "After all, she is a Digidestined, just like the rest of us. Just like you, I believe."

Wallace gasped and turned his wide-eyed gaze on the keeper of Knowledge, who simply nodded again and continued, "That's the most logical explanation, isn't it? After all, Gennai sent us back here to find the lost Digidestined, so it does make sense that there would be more…"

Sora frowned slightly with thought and nodded, while Wallace just stared at the two older children, getting more and more confused by the minute. Noticing the other boy's confusion, Koushirou sighed and rubbed the back of his head nervously, ruffling the short curls of auburn hair as he tried to think of a way to explain just what the heck was going on to this little kid.

"Uh…hehehe…I think I'd better start at the beginning…" he started, sweatdropping a little as he saw the younger boy's inquisitive gaze turn to him at once.

* * *

Taichi leaned against Agumon for support, gasping for precious breath. His wild brown hair was soaked with sweat, and several strands fell across his damp forehead, clinging there stubbornly. The young Rookie looked up at his friend with concern, carefully holding the boy's body up as they trudged along through the dirty streets.

The handful of kids they had managed to rescue, Taichi had already led to a safe place. Well, as safe a place as one could get when the streets were swarming with digital monsters of the not-so-friendly kind, but still, it was better than where they had been. Currently, they were taking refuge in one of the apartment buildings that had already been ransacked…the same one that Koushirou and his family lived in. Interestingly enough, he knew that only because he'd met the child of Knowledge's parents there. He had no clue how they had managed to survive, but something about the way they described what had happened made him suspect that Gennai was somehow involved…

…Whatever. He had other things to worry about right now. Like whether or not Myotismon would bother to send his henchmon to patrol a place he had already taken over… Or if Hikari, Sora, and the others were okay…

__

…Or Matt…

He couldn't believe that Yamato had signaled for him to keep going. He wished he knew if he and that other girl he was with were okay: the last he had seen of them, they were clinging to Garurumon's back as that insectoid digimon attempted to behead them. It wasn't that he thought the rebellious blonde couldn't take care of himself…but this was a war they were fighting, and Taichi knew that all wars have their causalities…

__

…Like those kids back at the makeshift prison…

That was one thing he did not want to think about right now. He could still remember the screams as some of the kids were caught directly in the center of the DarkTyrannomon's attack; the sound had burned itself into his memory the same way that the dark blaze had seared their flesh. He'd gotten a few burns on his face and the exposed parts of his arms and legs, and was fairly certain that Yamato and the girl Jun had not remained unscathed by the attack, but even that pain was nothing compared to the wrenching sense of failure and loss he felt clenching his heart.

__

I'm just a kid, darn it! I'm not supposed to have to deal with things like this! The worst problem I should have in my life is keeping up with my schoolwork and looking after Hikari!

Hikari…

The thought of his little sister snapped the boy back to reality. Shaking his head slightly, he stubbornly pushed away from Agumon's helping arms, causing the little dinosaur to give him an inquiring look.

"Tai?" he asked, voice trembling a bit as he noticed the sudden steeliness in his partner's eyes.

"I'm not a kid anymore," Taichi muttered, so softly that Agumon could barely make out the words. "I'm a Digidestined, not just some powerless kid who can't do anything. No matter what happens to me, I have to protect everyone from Myotismon! I've got a duty to save both worlds now: this is no longer anything like a stupid game."

"Tai?" Agumon repeated, not certain what to think. The boy glanced back down at him, then smiled, slowly.

"Let's get going," he prompted, walking ahead and waving for the dinosaur digimon to follow him. "We have to get back to Kari and the others…"

He walked away, and Agumon could only follow.

* * *

"Matt-sama? I'm scared!"

Yamato gritted his teeth, desperately fighting back the urge to turn around and slap this bratty girl across the face. She reminded him a great deal of Mimi, only without the obsession with pink and none of the keeper of Sincerity's natural beauty. Of course, the fact that her clothes were ripped and tattered from fleeing the enemy, that her cheeks were badly burned and streaked with dirt and tears, and her already Koushirou-styled hair was tangled and ruffled, were not exactly complimenting any cuteness she might possess…

He glared back at her; the girl's lips were trembling wildly as she fought back the tears that brimmed in her large brown eyes. His anger dissolved a little at the sight of the frightened expression, but did not disappear completely. With a sigh of resignation, he motioned for Jun to get down into the relative safety of the overturned trash bin he had found. She whimpered, but obeyed, crouching down beside Gabumon. The rookie digimon glanced over at her, then looked back at Yamato, waiting to hear his plan, the plan that would save them from the evil digimon that roamed the streets a few feet away.

Pity he had no idea what that plan might be.

"So, Matt, what do we do now?" Gabumon whispered, eyes never leaving the patrol of Bakemon as they floated past, far too close to their hiding spot for any of the unlikely trio's comfort. The blonde boy remained silent, sapphire eyes glaring forward, and the two partners both narrowed their eyes as a new, smaller figure, its features completely hidden from view, suddenly arrived.

"What is that?" Jun asked in a bare whisper, her voice surprisingly low. Yamato supposed that even the little ditz could sense that now was not the right time to overly loud. Still, he ignored her, and leaned forward slightly to make out what the new arrival was saying to the Bakemon… 

* * *

"Why have you not located any of the Chosen Children yet?!?" Hawkmon demanded, narrowing his ice-blue eyes into a cold stare that made the lowly Bakemon stammer with fear. As they scrambled to make a suitable excuse, the bird digimon sighed in annoyance. He found it exceedingly difficult to believe that he had once been weaker than these wimpy creatures, even if that had been back when he was a mere In-Training and before he had starting serving his master, Myotismon…

Angrily, Hawkmon forced his mind to come back to the present. Thinking of the past always put him in a bad mood, and at the moment, his mood did not need any help of that sort. He readjusted his headband, and as he did a sudden flash of color at the corner of his eye caught his attention. The ice-blue iris narrowed slightly, and the Rookie pretended as if he had not noticed for a few seconds, slowly moving his wings into position…

* * *

"Matt…" Gabumon whispered, his fur coat bristling as he watched the new arrival warily. Yamato shook his head slightly, warning him to remain put.

"I don't think they've seen us yet," he murmured, sapphire eyes mere slits as he strained to make out his enemy's actions. Suddenly his eyes snapped wide open, and Jun shrieked in his ear as all three ducked to the ground. Something fast and razor-sharp whizzed over their heads, and Yamato inhaled sharply as he felt it nick the back of his neck.

"You ghosts should have been named Bakamon!" he heard a commanding voice shout over the din of Jun's screeching and the Bakemon's cries of shock and excitement. "How could you not notice these fugitives so close by?!? Am I surrounded by idiots?!?"

__

That'd be my guess, Yamato thought darkly, and as he struggled to stand, he felt something drop from his neck onto his lap. Glancing down, he realized that the attack had severed the cord that held his Crest of Friendship in place. Snatching it up and hiding it in his hand, a crazy idea formed quickly in his mind.

He looked up; the enemy was currently distracted by good old Gabumon, who was fighting the new arrival, the bird-like digimon who had launched the sudden attack. Jun was behind him, watching the battle with wide, horrified eyes; Yamato seized her hand and forced his crest into it. The girl curled her fingers around it and looked up at him uncomprehendingly.

"Listen to me!" he hissed roughly in her ear, yanking her beside him so that only she could hear his words. "You have to get that and Gabumon out of here, fast! I'll distract them for you!"

Jun gaped at him, mouth working with silent protest, and Yamato shook her slightly, growling, "There's no time to argue right now! Listen, I don't want to do this, but if these creeps get ahold of both that and my Digimon, both worlds are doomed! Just do what I say!"

There was no more time for words, only action, and Yamato shoved the girl away from him, ignoring her cry of protest. Gabumon howled, and he saw the Rookie's form begin to glow as he was knocked back toward the two humans. By the time his body slammed into the wall, he had reverted back to Tsunomon, and Yamato gave Jun another quick shove in his direction as he darted the opposite way.

"Yo, Bird Brain!" he taunted, mocking the digimon who had beaten the tar out of his partner. "You want a piece of me, huh? Just try it!"

The insult had a better effect than he had hoped, and the avian digimon fumed as he launched his attack again. As the distracted Bakemon watched human and digimon fight in what was obviously a one-sided battle, Jun abruptly broke free of her paralysis. Scooping up the unconscious Tsunomon, the girl bit back a sob as she darted away, noticed only by Yamato.

Despite his mounting injuries, the boy smirked slightly. He wasn't entirely certain that this girl was the most reliable choice to look after Tsunomon for a while, but he had no choice given the situation. At least now, there was a chance that Myotismon wouldn't get his hands on the Crest of Friendship so easily…

His opponent's next attack sliced across his arm, and the boy bit back an involuntary scream as blood began to seep from the fresh wound. His other hand flew to cover it, and as the blonde boy slumped to the ground, sapphire eyes blurring, he was dimly aware of the bird digimon addressing the Bakemon soldiers behind him…

"Take this insolent whelp back to the master; Myotismon will decide this one's fate. The rest of you break off and find that bratty girl with the In-Training. There will be no resistance; this world and the Digital world belong to Master Myotismon now and forever!"

__

(The chosen are slowly beginning to draw closer together, although few of their encounters have been on the best of terms. As each continues to follow their own path, some walk together, while others still face their fates alone. But for how much longer will this remain true…? Ahead, a dark shadow continues its slow spread; quietly casting itself over the path until all is draped in its mystery and darkness.)


	3. Captured and Discovered

__

(Perhaps one of the things that is both a curse and a blessing in life is that we have no idea what repercussions a choice will have if we make it. Many people have said at several points in their lifetimes "I didn't know…" or "if only I had known then what would happen, then I'd never have…".)

(Everybody says this; yet is this really true? If you knew beforehand what the full consequences and rewards of each action and choice you made would be, would you still be able to act freely? Or would you allow yourself to be ruled solely by fear, doing only the things that would cause the least repercussions?)

(And in a situation such as war, there are no actions that can be taken without costs. If one could see what horrors would follow no matter what they did, they would either freeze up and become useless or go completely insane, no longer caring what happened because of them.)

(It is the uncertainty of life, the not fully knowing what may come next, that makes us able to live at all. The very risk that is living, the seizing of the chance before you and being ready to face whatever may come because of your actions, that is what makes life worth living. Even with the pain and sorrow that these actions often cause, still we continue to strive forward, taking each challenge as it comes as best we can handle. Only then can we truly say that we have lived.)

"Oh, so your parents own an convenience store?"

The purple-haired girl nodded, saying, "Yeah, it's a really nice place. Mom and Dad work really hard to keep it well stocked and clean and everything. One day, when I'm a little older, I'm going to start helping out in the store more. …Well, I was going to," she suddenly faltered, and her soft tan eyes began to waver as she murmured, "But now I don't know what's going to happen…the store might be gone now…and my family too…"

"…Miyako," Mimi murmured, shaking her head slightly, "You can't give up. I'm certain that your folks are all right."

"…Yolei-chan, don't cry," Iori, the young boy with the piercing jaden eyes, added in his strange, quiet voice. Mimi privately marveled at the fact that he could make his whispery voice heard over the din of quietly sobbing and wailing kids.

"…Mmm…you're right, I shouldn't cry, should I?" Miyako said, wiping a few tears from her cheeks. "I mean, we don't even know I they've hurt our parents or not…we don't know…anything at all…"

She started to sob again, softly, and Mimi let out a quiet sigh. This conversation was getting pretty depressing, and she had been hoping to use it to temporarily distract her new friends from the terrible situation they were in. So much for that plan…

A crash just outside the locked door caused both girls to jerk their heads up. Iori looked up more calmly than the girls had, and all three ignored the continued wailing of the other captured children as they listened to what was happening outside.

"…captured…one of….destined…"

Although that was all that Mimi could make out, that was all it took for her face to go completely pale. Miyako and Iori stared at her, started by how white she had become, and when she stood and walked over to the door, Miyako started to ask, "Mimi…what are…"

"Shhh," Mimi hushed the younger girl. Brushing her long strawberry blonde hair away from her ear so she could hear better, she pressed her ear against the smooth, cold surface of the door. The two children watched in interest as the girl went totally silent, completely focused on overhearing as much of what was happening outside as possible.

* * *

"You have done exceedingly well, Hawkmon," Myotismon said, curling his lip back slightly in a smile that exposed the gleaming tip of one of his fangs. "I am glad to see that somebody around here has finally made some progress on rounding up those cursed Digidestined children!"

"Yes, master," Hawkmon said simply in reply, keeping his head down as he remained poised on the floor, bowing before the vampire digimon. Behind him, his prisoner moaned and stirred, and the Bakemon tightened their grip on him, digging their claws into his skin.

"The Bearer of Friendship is truly a great prize," Myotismon continued, his cruel smile fading a little as he added with a hint of bitterness, "It is a shame that you could not capture his crest and partner as well."

Hawkmon winced; he had known that comment was coming. Keeping his cold gaze fixed on the floor tiles, he said, "I am sorry, my lord Myotismon. Rest assured that I will find them, along with those other Chosen Children brats. Nothing can stand in your way, master!"

"Hmm…go, and see that you do not disappoint me," Myotismon said, dismissing the avian digimon with a wave of his hand. As Hawkmon walked past his prisoner, the boy stirred and opened his sapphire eyes slightly, and the two locked gazes for a few moments as the Rookie strode past. Suddenly, Hawkmon leaned over so he was right next to the blonde boy's ear.

"I haven't forgotten what you said to me before, chosen brat," he whispered harshly. "The next time I meet your partner, he dies."

Yamato's eyes widened in sudden horror, and an evil grin spread over Hawkmon's beak as he strolled away. The boy tensed as if to struggle, but quickly realized the uselessness of fighting at this point: he would need his strength later. Gritting his teeth with poorly controlled rage, the boy then found himself being turned, forced to stare Myotismon directly in the eyes, face to face with the enemy.

"Well met, child of Friendship," the vampire said mildly, his dark eyes dancing with taunting laughter. Yamato glared coolly at his enemy, and Myotismon's fang-bearing sneer appeared again as he continued, "I grow weary of this game we have been playing. All you must do is tell me where the lost Digidestined child is…where all of your little friends are. Then, the game will end…the only way that it ever could end."

He chuckled slightly, the cruel smirk still twisting his thin, purple lips, and waited for the boy's response. Yamato glared silently up at the digimon, sapphire eyes cold and unreadable behind sweat-soaked bangs of blonde hair. The Bakemon holding the boy in place waited nervously, and one dug his claws a little deeper into the boy's wounded arm to evoke some response. Myotismon began to lose his patience.

"Well, boy?" he hissed, "where are they?"

"Somewhere where you'll never get to them, creep," Yamato snarled, his voice dripping with hatred. Myotismon snarled, enraged by the boy's fearless tone, and Yamato actually smirked silently to himself, although the smile faded into a pained grimace as the Bakemon angrily dug their claws deeper into his arms.

"We'll see, boy," Myotismon snarled, angrily motioning for the ghost digimon to take him away, "we'll see. Take him to suffer alongside that traitorous cat!"  


As the ghost digimon dragged Yamato away, Demidevimon flapped up behind his master and shouted, "Boss! Hey, boss, I've got something I want to show you! Boss!"

"What is it, Demidevimon?" Myotismon snarled. "This had better be good…"

"Oh, it is, boss, it is," the flunkey promised, his yellow eyes gleaming with anticipation, "it's very good. Come on, there's someone I want you to meet…"

* * *

"M-Mimi? Are you okay?" Miyako asked, staring at the older girl in concern. Mimi's face had gone totally white, her tan eyes wide and wavering with shock, and she seemed on the verge of collapsing where she stood pressed against the door. Getting up, the purple-haired girl walked over and offered a supporting shoulder to her new friend.

"Are you okay?" she repeated, and Mimi appeared to suddenly snap out of a trance, for she turned a blank stare on the younger girl. Miyako recoiled at the terror she saw in the other's eyes, even though she didn't know what the cause was.

"…Not really…" Mimi whispered, slowly shaking her head as if she could clear out the horrible things she had just overheard. With Miyako's help, she made her way back to where Iori was still sitting. The young boy's jaden eyes fixed on the pair of girls, simply watching with curiosity. Miyako sat down, but Mimi remained standing, causing both children to stare up at her.

"…What's wrong, Mimi?" Miyako asked again, a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach as she studied the expression on the other's face, one that mixed equal parts of fear and…determination? Anger?

"…Yolei…Iori…I think…" Mimi faltered, then her hand reached reflexively under her nightgown and grasped at something under her neck, concealed by the soft pink fabric. Her wavering caramel eyes suddenly seemed to lose most of their fear, although traces of it remained submerged in their shimmering depths, and she took a deep breath to steady herself.

"There's something I have to tell you, but we need to be somewhere a little less…conspicuous first." She looked around, long strawberry blonde hair whipping around her face, and noted an unguarded door. The Bakemon didn't bother with guarding it since it only led to a closet, and there was no way anyone could use it to get out of the building.

But Mimi wasn't trying to get out of the building. _Yet._

"This way," she said, and motioned for her two new friends to follow her as she slipped through the crowd without drawing any attention to herself. Miyako and Iori glanced at one another in surprise, and then the girl shrugged and took the younger boy's hand.

"Well, let's go see what she wants to tell us," she whispered, and led Iori into the crowds, trailing after Mimi.

* * *

"Hey, Izzy, you've got mail!" Tentomon said, and the frizzy-haired genius turned to glare at his partner.

"You just interrupted me, Tento, and HOW MANY TIMES TO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT MY NAME IS KOUSHIROU? NOT IZZY!"

Tentomon sweatdropped, along with Sora, Biyomon, and Wallace, the latter of which had been sitting and listening to the older boy's tale with wide, shocked green eyes. Hikari was playing with Gummimon and Kokomon in one corner, and Armadillomon just rolled his eyes and snickered.

Koushirou got up and snatched his laptop away from his digimon partner, and then he glanced at the screen and his onyx eyes widened.

"Hey, it's a message from Gennai!" he announced. Sora, Biyomon and Tentomon instantly surrounded him, then were forced to make room as Wallace, the twin In-Trainings, Hikari and Armadillomon all crowded around as well, curious. Wallace was especially interesting in seeing what the old man looked like after hearing what Koushirou had told him about Gennai.

Koushirou clicked a few buttons, and then a digital image of the old man appeared on the screen, along with a text box.

"Hello there, children!" the image greeted them with a smile, and the words appeared in the text box as well. As Wallace and Hikari gasped, Koushirou smiled, and his fingers danced over the keys as he typed a reply.

"Hey Gennai," he said aloud as he typed, "I have a question. Why didn't you tell us that there was more than one lost Digidestined child here? Because we've already found two of them: Tai's sister, Hikari," and he inclined his head toward the girl, then tilted it back toward the younger boy as he continued, "and Wallace here."

"I…forgot."

Tentomon face-faulted behind the others, while Koushirou just sighed in annoyance and Sora buried her face in her hands. Hikari and Wallace blinked in perfect unison, both wearing the exact same expression of surprise and confusion on their young faces.

"Anyway, I found something that may be of use to you," the image of Gennai continued calmly. "I'm transferring it over right now…"

A blue light suddenly lit up the laptop's screen, and those gathered around it cried out in surprise and stumbled backward. As they watched in stunned silence, a glowing sphere of azure radiance slowly emerged from the computer screen, and one could just barely make out something moving inside of it. The blue light ball touched down on the ground and flashed vividly, nearly blinding them, then faded away. In its place, a small creature was hopping up and down.

"Ohh…look, how cute!" Hikari trilled. The small digimon looked up at her; blinking huge garnet eyes that nearly took up its entire head, making it seem larger than it was. The tiny, dragon-like creature stood wobbling on its tiny hind legs, its oversized head making it difficult for the little thing to keep its balance.

"That digimon is an In-Training," Gennai's voice explained, "and he belongs to one of the lost Digidestined."

"What?" Koushirou and Sora asked in unison, both looking at the younger children with surprise. Meanwhile, the little digimon had finally regained its balance, and it grinned up at them expectantly.

"My name's Chibimon!" it announced, smiling, then he blinked his wide red eyes again and looked at the small group. "Which one of you is my partner?" he asked innocently, turning his gaze from one face to another.

"Uhhh…" Koushirou and Sora gave each other a strange look, then glanced back at the younger children. Wallace and Hikari stared at Chibimon, looked at each other, and shook their heads in unison.

"Not mine…I already have two, after all," Wallace said, glancing over at Gummimon and Kokomon.

"He can't be mine, either…I already know that my partner is supposed to be Gatomon…" Hikari added, shaking her head. Chibimon stared up at them, obviously distraught.

"Hmm…well then, he must be somebody else's partner, wouldn't he?" Gennai commented, earning a glare from Koushirou.

"That is the obvious answer…the question is, who?" Koushirou asked. The digital image of Gennai shrugged noncommittally.

"Can't really help you there. Anyway, I'll be going now; good luck."

"Now wait just a…" Koushirou started to protest, but it was too late: the image had already faded. A small vein stood out on the back of his head as he muttered, "Gee, thank you so much for clearing everything up, Gennai…"

"Oh boy…" Sora sighed, rubbing her forehead. She had a slight headache, and figured that it was probably going to get worse later on…what with Koushirou ranting, Tentomon and Armadillomon starting to argue about who knew what, and the little dragon digimon seemed about to cry. As she watched, Hikari and Wallace both went to comfort him, but he jerked away from them.

"I don't understand; why isn't my partner here?" he asked, garnet eyes wavering as they darted from face to face. "I'm supposed to have a chosen child of my very own; why isn't there one here for me? Where's my partner?!?"

* * *

"…And this…is the 'someone' you wanted me to meet?"

Demidevimon winced, recognizing a dangerous undercurrent in his master's tone. Fighting off the urge to start shaking with fear, the bat-like digimon gestured at the young boy before him and said, "Well, doesn't he kind of remind you of the leader of those Digibrats? I think it's the hair, or maybe the goggles that…"

"Silence!" Myotismon hissed, and Demidevimon recoiled. Glaring down at the young, brown-haired boy, the vampire digimon hissed, "I cannot believe this: the only reason you dragged me over here was to see this weak little child's slight resemblance to the leader of those idiotic brats? I'm looking for the real thing, not some cheap imitation!"

__

Gulp… Demidevimon thought.

"I'm not a weak little child!" the boy suddenly shouted, glaring up at the evil digimon from where the Bakemon held his arms. Demidevimon goggled at him, shocked, while Myotismon simply regarded the boy with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh?" he asked in a mocking voice. Bending down so that he was eye level with the boy, he smirked patronizingly. "You know, you may be right about one thing, Demidevimon: now that I take a closer look at him, he does bear a certain resemblance to that boy…especially in the eyes. Both of them have the same look of helpless anger, the knowledge that there is nothing they can do to help themselves or their world. Humans are such pathetic creatures…"

He laughed in the boy's face, and got a cold glare in return. Suddenly the boy brought back his head and, much to the shock of all the digimon, spat full in Myotismon's face.

The vampire digimon fell back, sputtering with rage, while his henchmon stared at him and the boy in astonishment. Furiously wiping spittle from his face, Myotismon glared at the youngster with hellfire in his narrowed eyes.

"That just earned you a slow and painful death, brat…" he snarled, baring his fangs in a grimace. The boy seemed to shrug off the threat, dark brown eyes still glaring at the vampire as if telling him that he was perfectly willing to do the same thing again if given the chance. The Bakemon that held his arms seemed torn between being ready to tear him apart and uncertainty, as if they didn't know exactly what their master wanted them to do with the boy.

The vampire digimon got to his feet, cape sweeping behind him, and his cold gaze locked with the ten-year-old child's for a moment. A cruel, cutting smile slowly twisted the edge of his lips, and he whirled away, sneering, "Since this boy seems so intent on resisting me, why don't you take him to where those other rebellious fools we've caught are being held? I'm sure he'll find it…an enlightening experience."

He whirled and stalked away, and Demidevimon couldn't help but toss a superior smirk back at the brat as the Bakemon dragged him away. He'd picked up on the hidden meaning behind his master's words, and was satisfied that the little jerk would get what he deserved for trying to resist. No one would oppose Master Myotismon and live to tell of it…not even those bratty Chosen Children, wherever they were!

* * *

"…And that's the whole story," Mimi finished. Her two-person audience just stared at her, paralyzed with shock, and for a moment the girl sweatdropped, wondering if she had done the right thing. The way these two were gaping at her, they looked as if they were terrified of her, and she wasn't certain that she would be able to blame them if they started screaming and turned her in.

Still, she hoped that this wouldn't turn out to be the case. She had chosen to bear her soul to these two, revealing everything she knew about what exactly was going on simply because she felt as if she could trust them, and that they had a right to know why the world seemed to have gone to hell.

"…Mimi…is that all really true?" Iori suddenly asked, his whispery voice filled with awe. The strawberry blonde girl sighed silently with relief and nodded.

"Hai, it's true," she replied, and to prove it she showed them her crest, taking it off and letting the two children gape at it. Miyako's caramel eyes were huge orbs behind her glasses, and she shifted her astonished gaze up to Mimi's beaming face.

"And you have a digimon too? P-'Palmon'? A-And she can fight against these other bad digimon too? Where is she?"

"I smuggled her inside with me," Mimi revealed, keeping her voice low in contrast with Miyako's steadily rising voice. Taking the hint, the purple-haired girl shut her mouth and kept her shining eyes locked on the elder girl's face as she added, "Right now, Palmon is hiding in a bundle of clothes I managed to keep with me while my parents and I were brought in. I told her to stay there until I came back for her; I didn't want to risk being found out just yet. My friends will probably be attacking here soon, and when they do, Palmon can fight from inside while they take the outside!"

"Wow, that's a good plan, Mimi-san," Iori said, and Mimi stuck out her tongue teasingly and giggled.

"Yeah, I know," she laughed. "I guess hanging out with people like Koushirou and Jyou is starting to pay off a little!"

"Uh…yeah," Miyako replied, sweatdropping a little bit. Shaking her head, she then looked back up with one hand clenched into a triumphant fist as she said, "But anyway, it means that those losers don't have the total control they thought they did! Ha! No matter how hard they try, it just goes to show ya! Humanity will not be eradicated! LOVE AND JUSTICE WILL ALWAYS TRIUMPH OVER EVIL!"

"Yolei…you're being rather loud," Iori whispered, his voice even softer than usual. Mimi was just gaping at the younger girl, eyes wide with silent horror. Realizing her error at once, Miyako felt her face flush red, and her glasses fogged up as she dropped her gaze to the floor at once.

"Sorry…I just got a little…overexcited…"

Suddenly something creaked behind them, and the trio froze. Slowly, three pairs of eyes, two pairs of tan and one of jade, turned back towards the door to the closet as it slowly creaked open…

"Uh…oh…" Miyako whispered, "I think I might have blown our cover…"

"It's okay, it'll be okay," Mimi promised, although the sick feeling in the bottom of her stomach told her differently. She stood up, trying to interpose herself between whoever or whatever was coming and her new friends, but Iori surprised her. The five-year-old boy got up, and taking a broom from nearby, held it by the pole and aimed it toward the door.

"Iori…what…" she heard Miyako breathe behind her.

"My grandfather knows kendo," Iori whispered back quickly, the words blending together a little in his rush to explain, "and I've been watching him train. I want to train under him when I am older…"

He left this sentence unfinished, allowing the two females to fill in the rest mentally, and brandished the broomstick again with both hands, keeping it pointed forward as the door opened. A white-sheeted head poked inside, and Iori gritted his teeth as he raised the pole up and tensed. Just as he was about to bring it crashing down, however, the digimon opened its mouth and squealed, in an unusually high-pitched voice, "Wait!"

"Huh?" Mimi asked, startled, then she abruptly realized that the voice sounded familiar, and she cried, "No, Iori, don't!"

Iori froze in place, the stick poised over the digimon's robed head, and his jade eyes flicked back to the girls, reflecting mild surprise. The digimon looked startled as well.

"…Mimi?" it asked, its voice still sounding very odd to the trio.

"…Palmon?" Mimi asked in return, caramel eyes now saucer-sized. When the digimon nodded, she babbled, "What are you doing here, and why are you wearing my mother's good white tablecloth like that? …Oh, never mind, just get in here…!"

And she reached over a startled Iori's head, seized the disguised Palmon by the front of her makeshift Bakemon outfit, and yanked her inside, shutting the door behind them. As she yanked the sheet off of her partner's head, Miyako and Iori stared at Palmon and sweatdropped in unison.

"What's wrong?" Mimi asked, in between scolding her friend for not listening to her instructions.

"…Your partner is a walking weed?" Miyako asked.

"Hey!" cried Palmon, looking insulted. Mimi and Iori looked at each other and sighed in unison.

* * *

"Are we almost to where Hikari and the others are?" Takeru asked, turning his wide-eyed gaze up to Jyou. Beside him, Ken hugged Leafmon to his trembling chest again as the mere sight of the elder boy's face brought back unwilling memories of his elder brother.

"It looks like it…" Jyou said, shoving his sliding glasses back up onto his nose again as he checked his digivice's screen. Pointing straight ahead, he added, "In fact, I think they may be in that building over there!"

"Yay! Let's go!" Patamon trilled, launching off of Takeru's hat in his excitement. Glancing back at Leafmon in Ken's arms, he said, "I can't wait to introduce you to everyone!"

"Yeah, it'll be great! Let's go!" Gomamon agreed, half-running, half-skipping after his flying friend. However, the two had barely gone a few steps before Jyou suddenly reached out and snatched them back, and the little white seal gave his partner a semi-mad, semi-annoyed look as he asked, "Hey, what's your problem?"

"Quiet, someone's coming," Wizardmon answered for the boy, and all three withdrew into the shadows. As they watched, a lone figure came running up, and as it drew closer, Jyou felt his mouth drop open in shock.

__

What in the…oh, this gives me a VERY bad feeling…

* * *

Jun's breath came in short, forced gasps as she ran blindly, keeping a tight grip on her precious burden. In her arms, the tiny In-Training sweatdropped as he was jounced around wildly.

"Slow down, Jun!" Tsunomon cried, looking up at her with his huge orange eyes. "I know you mean well and all, but I'm going to ruin your shirt if you keep bouncing me like this!"

"I'm sorry," she apologized, but she didn't slow down. She was too frightened to even consider it, scared out of her mind over what was happening to her, to her home, to her family, her brother…

Suddenly a streak of fire seemed to erupt across her back, and she was dimly aware of her own shriek of pain as her legs folded beneath her. She toppled to the pavement, still clutching Tsunomon against her chest, ignoring how his horn scraped against her cheek as they skidded a few feet across the cold, hard ground. Her back throbbed, something warm and sticky flowing out of it, and she knew she was bleeding, maybe fatally.

The sound of deep laughter thundered above her, and she raised her blurring gaze to stare dully up into the cruel, glittering red eyes of a robed digimon. It looked vaguely like a Bakemon, save for the evil intelligence she could see gleaming behind those crimson slits, under a hood of the same bloody color, the same deep scarlet hue of the thick liquid that dripped off of the creature's scythe…

"Found you at last," it hissed in triumph. "Found you at last…"

__

(The chosen children are beginning to make their bids to reassemble and fight back, but fate may have other things in mind for them…all they can do is follow the paths before them, and hope that they do not lead to destruction.)


	4. Growth

__

I'm going to die, aren't I?

It completely amazed Jun how calmly she thought this, even as her tormenter's blade went slicing over her shirt again, shredding it to pieces. She attempted to roll away, and the effort just barely saved her from losing most of the skin on her aching back. Still, it felt almost as if he had succeeding in striking her, as the motion caused the already gaping wound across her back to give a painful throb.

Something sharp nicked the side of her face, but it wasn't her attacker's weapon: rather, it was the horn of her precious burden she carried. As she struggled to regain some of her lost balance, Tsunomon shifted around so he could stare up at her, his copper eyes clearly showing his concern for her.

__

Don't worry, she thought, unable to give her thoughts voice at the moment, _I won't let him hurt you. Maybe I can at least do that…_

Then fire crossed her back again with rivers of pain, and the girl was forced to bite down on her tongue to prevent her shriek of agony. She caught the barest glimpse of her enemy's gleaming blade as he raised it over his head, then darkness claimed her and she knew no more.

* * *

Phantomon smirked, the expression masked by the crimson fabric of his hood. How pathetic these humans were; a little blood loss and they fainted dead away. They presented no challenge at all to him; the only way they could resist was to run. That, at least, the girl had done well enough, but now the game was over.

There was only one task left to him: retrieve the crest of Friendship and its partner from the dying girl's body. He could clearly see the little digimon already, quivering in the brat's arms, glaring up at him from the sparse cover that they afforded. Phantomon leered at him, and raised his scythe higher into the air. He would get rid of Tsunomon's only protection…by severing the brat's arms directly from her body!

The blade raised higher, higher…and was suddenly knocked out of his hands by a blast of light.

"What?" he exclaimed, then suddenly a voice called out behind him:

"Hand of Fate!"

Then another burst of golden light seared his back, and Phantomon screamed as he was blown backwards, slamming into the side of a building.

* * *

The sound of the explosion caused Jun to stir slightly, and she managed to force open her wavering, blurring eyes for a few seconds, just long enough to catch the barest glimpse of white feathers and billowing robes.

"An…angel…" she breathed, then her eyes slipped shut again, despite Tsunomon's screaming at her to stay awake…

* * *

"Did we get him?" Takeru asked, running out after Angemon. Jyou, Gomamon, and Wizardmon were right behind him.

"I don't know, but TK, you should be careful!" Jyou warned. "Remember, these bad guys have an annoying tendency to come back just as we think we've won…"

Phantomon roared with rage as he pulled himself out of the hole his impact with the side of the building had made and launched himself at Angemon, scythe lancing out toward the angel digimon's neck. Angemon dodged aside and brought his fist back, striking the ghost again with his Hand of Fate. Jyou sweatdropped.

"I hate it when I'm right," he murmured, and then turned to the others and said, "I'm going to go see if I can help that girl. Gomamon, you stay with Ken and Leafmon; Wizardmon, would you watch my back?"

"Hey, why can't I watch your back?" Gomamon asked, looking mildly hurt.

"Because Ikkakumon isn't very good at maneuvering on land," Jyou explained hastily, already running toward the fallen girl's side. Gomamon nodded in reluctant understanding and moved to stand before Ken and Leafmon. Glancing backward, he noticed that the boy had gone completely white, his already pale skin whitening even more.

"Uh…are you okay?" he asked, even though it was obvious that the boy was not okay. In his arms, Leafmon squirmed and turned worried eyes up to his partner.

"Ken?" he asked, not certain that he was being heard. "Ken?"

"Osamu…" Ken breathed, violet-blue eyes brimming with tears. He could not believe his eyes: the monster that Angemon was fighting…that creature…it was the one who had murdered Osamu!

"Ken?" Leafmon's trembling voice barely registered in his mind; his mind's eye was playing cruel tricks on him, replaying images from a nightmare over the battle that raged before him. Over and over again, the wind seemed to roar past him as he tumbled backward through midair, and above him a gush of crimson erupted from his elder brother's neck as the digimon sliced it open. Sticky drops of the same liquid seemed to fall from the scythe's blade even as he swung it at Angemon, a trick of the eyes that served as a mocking reminder of his loss and grief.

"O…Osamu…" he breathed again, then his anger took over, and he screamed, "OSSSAAAMMMUUU!"

"Huh?" Phantomon and Angemon both whirled around to stare in surprise at the young boy, and the evil digimon's eyes widened slightly as he recognized the child from before. However, the pinkish-purple light that seemed to pulse around the boy's arms for a moment…that was new…

"Leafmon digivolve to…Minomon!"

Ken started slightly, as if awakening from a dream, and he stared down at the digimon he was holding in his arms. The first thought that came into his mind was _Wow…he got bigger…_

Indeed, his partner had gotten bigger, although not as big as he thought at first. A cocoon now covered the bottom part of his body, and the leaf on top of his head now looked as if a stem had replaced it. His mouth's shape had changed as well: he had lost his tiny pacifier, and in its place was a tiny pair of jaws.

"A…In-Training," Phantomon said, then he suddenly began to laugh. "That sudden glow was just for a stupid, weak little In-Training? How pathetic! I thought you chosen children were much more powerful and resourceful than this…"

He laughed again, crimson eyes glittering as he took up his scythe again and held it out in front of him, daring his opponents to attack. All the digimon watched him warily, Gomamon moving in front of Ken and Minomon while his human partner went to check on the girl holding Tsunomon in her arms.

"Oh jeez…she's lost a lot of blood," Jyou muttered, stating the all too obvious. Biting his lip to keep himself focused, he forced his trembling hands to touch reddened clothing and flesh, hoping that he wouldn't faint. Although he barely brushed his fingers against her, the girl let out a pained moan, and her dark eyes fluttered open for a moment, trying to fix on his face.

"Hang on, you'll be okay," he promised, and she managed a moan in reply. In her arms, Tsunomon wiggled around until he could stare up into Jyou's face; the concern and fear in his bronze eyes spoke more clearly than words possibly could of his current terror. Clasped in one of the girl's hands was a small piece of jewelry, and as the blue-haired boy looked closer at it, he sucked in a sudden gasp of shock.

__

Why does she have both Tsunomon AND the Crest of Friendship with her?!? …Ohhh, I have a VERY bad feeling about this…

"Jyou, look out!" Gomamon's voice screamed, and the boy whirled around just in time to see a flash of silver arcing toward him. Onyx eyes widened in shock, and he instinctively flung himself down, slamming into Tsunomon and the girl and sending all three rolling out of harm's way. Phantomon's scythe flashed through empty air, and the ghost digimon let out a curse.

"Damn you human pests," he hissed, crimson eyes flashing as he whirled to face them. He raised his blade again, only to have another blast of golden energy sear through his hands and send it clattering to the ground.

"DAMN YOU!" he howled, spinning to face Angemon. He pointed his hands at the angel digimon, and a ball of black energy surged from them and struck him full in the stomach.

"ANGEMON, NO!" Takeru screamed as he watched his partner fly backward into a building. Angemon grunted as his back met the hard concrete, and a soft golden glow bathed him briefly as he fell to the street, shifting back into his Rookie form.

"Patamon!" Takeru shouted, running toward his fallen friend. Scarlet eyes flashing with triumph, Phantomon swept toward the running boy, raising his blade high above his head, ready to bring it down upon the child's skull.

Suddenly, a blast of foam covered his eyes, blinding him and causing him to miss the blonde boy completely and go flying face first into the same wall that Angemon had hit. Sputtering with rage, he fell back and wiped off his face, then turned to see Minomon standing in front of Ken. Before he could react, the little In-Training sent another volley of bubbles at him, and the tiny soap spheres coated his eyes again.

"DAMN YOU!" he spat, furiously wiping the bubbles away from his burning red eyes. Ken stood frozen behind his partner, staring at Minomon in surprise as the In-Training attacked again and again. While it was obvious that the bubbles were having little effect other than seriously ticking off the ghost Digimon, Minomon was still pressing the attack, thinking only to protect his partner.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Phantomon howled, surging forward despite the fact that he was still blinded by the foam in his eyes. His scythe flashed out, ready to rend his enemies to shreds, and Ken stood paralyzed as the blade lanced forward. He couldn't move, not even to close his eyes to shut out the terrible sight of the weapon curving toward his body in a deadly arc.

__

Is this what Osamu saw right before…?

Phantomon's eyes gleamed bloodfire as he lashed out, wanting only to see the young brat's head fall to the ground in a spray of crimson. Just as he was about to finish his strike, however, pain shot through every nerve in his body. Electricity surged up and down his writhing form, and he screamed as he felt his form break into small pieces of digital information.

"…Ah…ah…ah," Ken heard himself gasp, eyes locked on the fading form before him. Then his violet eyes widened even more as a huge bug landed in front of him, peering curiously down at him, cocking its hideous, helmet-like head to one side.

"Hey, is everyone okay?" a voice called, and Ken stared in shock as a small boy suddenly hopped down from the horrible creature's back.

"Koushirou!" Takeru and Jyou cried, recognizing the boy. They ran up to him, Jyou carrying the strange girl and Tsunomon in his arms. The red-haired stranger took one look at the sorry condition she was in and inhaled sharply.

"Geez, she needs help," he breathed.

"Tell me something I don't know," Jyou muttered darkly.

"Okay, then, how about this: that new Digidestined child we've been looking for?"  


"Is Hikari," Wizardmon finished for him, holding up the Crest of Light.

"Uh…yeah. AND…"

"…And she's not the only one, either!" Takeru said, beaming up at the red-haired boy with Minomon in his arms. "See, this little guy belongs to Ken, over there!" and he pointed over at where Ken was still standing motionless, gaping at Kabuterimon.

"What? Really?" and Koushirou gaped over at the younger boy, eyes wide with shock. Ken just stared back at him, an equally startled look on his face, and Koushirou shook his head in disbelief.

"Uh…hi…I don't suppose that you need a digimon partner, do you?" the redhead inquired after a few awkward moments. Ken slowly shook his head in the negative, and Minomon bounced into his arms, turning his wide black-blue eyes back on the strange bug curiously.

"Oh, great," Koushirou muttered, "that means that there's at least one more Digidestined kid out there we haven't met yet…"

That caught Jyou and Takeru's attention.

"What does that mean?" Jyou demanded, staring at the redhead in shock. Koushirou just shook his head again, his dark ebony eyes narrowing slightly in thought.

"Never mind that right now," he said. "We should concentrate on getting back to the others and plotting our next move. We'll talk it all over then. Besides," he added, indicating the girl still cradled in the older boy's arms, "we need to see to her wounds right away."

"Oh…right!" Jyou stammered, quickly clambering onto Kabuterimon's back. Takeru followed him, carrying Patamon in his arms, and Koushirou helped Gomamon and Wizardmon onto the bug's hard back next. As he seized one bony arm and began to pull himself up, he glanced over his shoulder at Ken, who had not moved.

"Are you coming?" he inquired, arching one eyebrow slightly; Ken did not reply, instead gaping blankly up at the towering insect. Realizing what was wrong, Jyou sighed and climbed back down beside Koushirou.

"Don't worry, Ken, everything will be just fine," he said, locking eyes with the younger boy. Ken stared back at him, too scared to speak, and the older boy's oynx eyes softened as he said, "Look, I know you're scared, but you just have to trust us. I promise that I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?"

__

…Osamu… Ken thought, his violet-blue eyes wavering for a moment as he stared back at Jyou. Then, taking a deep breath, he tightened one arm around Minomon and stepped forward, gripping the older boy's proffered hand.

* * *

"…Phantomon is dead," Myotismon announced, his dark, soulless eyes becoming distant for a moment as he said this. There was no emotion in his voice, only a blunt statement of what could only be the truth. Demidevimon looked over at his master in shock, and Hawkmon simply closed his ice blue eyes and shook his head slightly.

"What? B-but how? What hap–"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hawkmon interrupted Demidevimon's startled stammering coldly, his eyes glittering like frost on a knife's edge. "Those accursed Digidestined children surely must have found and destroyed him. Or vice versa…no matter who started the conflict, it had the same result."

Demidevimon turned an outraged glare on the indifferent bird digimon, who ignored the look and began to preen his feathers a little bit. The bat-winged monster grimaced: as valuable as Hawkmon was to their cause, the avian had a tendency to rub him the wrong way with his stuffy attitude and snobbish treatment of others.

"It doesn't matter," Myotismon said, and as both of his henchmon turned their attention back toward him, the vampire smirked. One of his pointed, ivory fangs stood out against the pale purple of his lips, and his voice held a mocking undercurrent as he continued, "After all, we do have a few trump cards in our hands, and we can play those whenever we wish…"

He trailed off into a laugh, and Demidevimon shivered despite himself as his master's cackling seemed to bite into him with its cold edge. Glancing over at Hawkmon, he noticed with no small feeling of jealousy that the avian appeared unaffected by the eerie sound. Instead, the Rookie's pale eyes gleamed faintly, glittering like ice.

"Hawkmon!" Myotismon broke off his laughter with that sudden, curt snap; the bird digimon immediately dropped into a kneeling posture at the vampire's feet, folding one wing over his chest. "Go check up on our guests, will you? I want to be certain that they are comfortable…"

"At once, my lord," Hawkmon replied, and the avian was off to fulfill his master's wishes. As Myotismon began to chortle again, laughing at some private jest, Demidevimon glared after the Rookie digimon and wondered with some trepidation just why he seemed to be getting all of the best assignments lately.

* * *

A groan stirred behind pale, trembling lips, and sapphire pools of light opened into tiny slits behind a mass of ruffled blonde bangs as the Bearer of Friendship faded back into consciousness. This was a curse at best, considering his current position. He coughed, and a bloodied globule of spit trickled out of his mouth as the grating sound jarred his beaten body.

Gatomon regarded him with deep sympathy from behind the twisted bars of her cage, her own dark sapphire eyes shimmering with both pity and hatred. Pity that this young boy, that anyone, should be treated in such a manner, and hatred for the monsters who had inflicted such horrors upon him.

She also felt more than a little bit of guilt: once he had been brought in, her captors had lost all interest in beating her. They preferred to torture this boy, this child, both because he was a Digidestined child and because they were heartless bastards anyway. The lashes that had once torn into her fur had been redirected to this unfortunate's back, and it showed.

The Bearer of Friendship was a shadow of his former self. His dark green shirt, tan gloves, and jeans now hung in reddened tatters on his body: his other clothing had been roughly stripped from him. Angry crimson welts covered his chest and back, and his handsome face was now purple and swollen from bruises. While early on he had attempted to fight back, lashing out at his tormentors with his legs and feet, he now hung limply from his chains, suspended a few feet above the floor.

But they would not go so far as to kill him: that much Gatomon knew, although the thought gave her little comfort. At this point, he was much too valuable as a playing piece for Myotismon to simply destroy him. Gatomon gritted her teeth in outrage: to her former master, all of them were little more than pawns, just little bargaining chips he could use and manipulate to get exactly what he desired. Once they had been played to the best of his advantage, they would simply be discarded.

Even the other occupant of the room was part of this brutal game that Myotismon was playing, although the feline digimon had not figured out why as of this point. While it was true that the youngster huddled glumly in the shadows and brooding over his fate with a furrowed, defiant brow bore a shocking resemblance to the leader of the Digidestined, he was also far too young to serve as a convincing double. Perhaps he was only being punished for resistance; but if that was the case, why was he being held with them?

As if sensing her gaze, the boy stirred, and glanced over at her, his dark brown eyes filled with a grim determination that seemed much older than he was. Despite their current bleak situation, Gatomon found herself grinning slightly back at him: something about this boy caused a strange new hope and conviction in their chances of winning this war. She couldn't quite put a name to this feeling yet; but it rose in her chest each time she met those deep, chocolate brown eyes with her own sapphire ones…

The door creaked open, scattering her thoughts, and Gatomon glanced over at the lone figure that entered the room, closing the door behind him. Her dark blue eyes narrowed slightly as they locked with eyes as pale and cold as ice.

"Hawkmon," she whispered, her voice harsh.

"Gatomon," he replied emotionlessly, nodding briefly in her direction. The feline digimon watched him from behind thick metal bars as he strode past her, never breaking his cool, steady pace. As he strode up to the barely conscious Yamato, Gatomon closed her eyes in pain, knowing what was coming. She could not bear to watch this anymore, yet knew that she had no choice.

Hawkmon checked to make certain that the Bearer of Friendship was awake first; then, satisfied that this was the case, slowly reached up and plucked his feather from his headband. He stood regarding it and the boy for a few moments, running the top of one wing over his weapon's razor-sharp edge.

Then, a sudden grin of pure evil contorting his beak, Hawkmon reversed it in his wing and sliced it across Yamato's chest, once. The blonde boy jerked convulsively, stifling a cry of pain, and the avian's smirk grew wider as he lashed out again, again and again and again.

Gatomon forced herself to shut out the sound of Yamato's cries of pain, gritting her teeth in shared agony each time let out an involuntary shout. In the corner, the strange young boy shuddered once and hid his face in his lap, pulling his knees up to his chest. As the torture continued, the feline digimon vowed once again that nothing would prevent her from taking out Myotismon the moment she got the chance.

Nothing.

* * *

"Mmmm…Dai…Dai…suke…"

Tentomon jerked in surprise, and fluttered over to the unconscious girl's side as she stirred once. Koushirou looked up at his partner, his ebony eyes filling with curiosity, and the bug digimon soon turned back to him with his verdict.

"I think she's recovering, though she'll have a nasty headache," Tentomon volunteered. Hearing this, the Digidestined breathed a collective sigh of relief, and Jyou shook his head slightly.

"I would think it would be more of a backache," he commented, continuing to bandage up the gaping wounds he had seen on the girl's back as he did so. Koushirou and Sora nodded solemn agreement, and Sora knelt to help Jyou freshen the makeshift bandages.

"So, what exactly happened, anyway?" Koushirou inquired, turning his deep black eyes toward Tsunomon, who was currently cradled in Hikari's lap. The orange-furred In-Training glanced up at him, coppery eyes wavering with sudden tears, and the Bearer of Knowledge felt something twist deep inside him. He knew that he would not like what he heard, but he still had to ask.

"Please, Tsunomon, we need to hear what happened," he said, trying to keep his voice from trembling. Again, Tsunomon made no immediate response, and Koushirou sighed, wondering just how he could get him to answer.

"Tsunomon," Takeru suddenly spoke up, and all eyes turned toward the young keeper of Hope. His bright blue eyes were wavering as if he was about to cry, but no tears brimmed in them yet. As the others looked at him, concerned, he nervously fingered the edge of the tag and crest gripped tightly in one small hand, trying not to glance down at its symbol.

"Tsunomon," he repeated, staring over at his brother's partner, "please tell us what happened to Matt! I…I have to know what happened to my brother…"

Tsunomon stared back at the young boy, his coppery eyes darkening with sorrow. Hikari shifted nervously, her tan eyes becoming distant with sadness of her own. Noticing this, Chibimon trotted over to her and nuzzled her free hand, and she rested it against his head after a while. Wallace hugged Gummimon and Kokomon closer to him, while Ken held Minomon in an iron embrace. Patamon looked at his partner in concern, his own wide blue eyes wavering with near-tears.

"Tsunomon, please…" Sora pleaded, stroking Biyomon's head absently as she gazed over at the orange In-Training. "Just tell us what you know."

Jyou and Koushirou nodded agreement with her, each unconsciously scooting a little closer to their own partners. Gomamon and Tentomon looked back at their respective humans for a moment, sensing their pain.

Tsunomon looked at everyone again, then sighed.

"All right…I'll tell you what happened," he relented, and his coppery eyes wavered as he added, "But you're not going to like it…"

* * *

"Get out of my way!" Taichi roared, and Greymon roared in concert with his partner as they charged the startled Bakemon patrol. The ghost digimon were taken completely off guard; this had been a normal, seemingly uneventful patrol until just now, when these two had come charging out of nowhere. Too startled to react, the first wave was wiped out in a matter of seconds by a single, well-aimed fireball, and before the rest could rally, digimon and human were upon them.

Greymon fried most of the enemy digimon, but he noted with concern as he did so that he was not the only one fighting. Taichi had gone into battle and was like a man possessed, wielding a section of broken-off pipe he had found like a sword or something similar. As his digimon partner watched in pure shock and growing horror, Taichi took a swipe at one of the ghost digimon and managed to knock it down, and proceeded to beat in its robed head with the blunt object, stopping only when his victim had turned into digital information.

"Tai, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, frightened by the near-manic gleam he saw flashing behind the boy's narrowed brown eyes. Somehow, he doubted that he had been heard, as Taichi lashed out again and again.

"This is for Matt! And this is for Gabumon! This is for that girl Jun who lost her brother!" the boy was shouting in tune with his swings, hitting his mark each time. "And this is for all those children who your damned boss killed just to try and hit us! All those innocent people who got caught in the middle! Those kids in the building that your kind wiped out!"

The Bakemon were no longer able to respond to him; all of them had been deleted already, yet Taichi kept ranting and shouting, now pounding the metal bar in his hands again and again into the street, the walls, anything in front of him. Enraged tears trickled down his reddened cheeks, all but blinding him, going unnoticed as he continued to scream and rave, angry at the world.

Greymon shifted back into his Rookie form, and Agumon ran up to his partner's side, his green eyes filling with concern and fear.

"Tai, Tai, listen to me," he cried, waving his arms to get his human partner's attention. When this did not work, he attempted to grab the boy's flailing arms, and finally managed after a few moments to seize the end of the pipe, halting it in midswing. "Tai, you can't just beat up on everything! I know you're mad about what happened, but–"

He never saw it coming, just felt the sudden rush of pain as Taichi's other hand crashed into the side of his face. Startled, the small dinosaur reeled back, both hands reaching reflexively to cover his throbbing cheek as he stared up at his partner. He gaped at him with a wounded expression, hurt more in spirit than he was in body.

Taichi glared back at him for a few seconds, breathing heavily, his dark brown eyes filled with rage and anger. Then, slowly, the outrage melted away, as he slowly seemed to realize what he had just done. His anger dissolved into horror, and he stared at Agumon in shock, his mouth working in soundless apology, his wavering brown eyes speaking more for his repentance than he ever could.

Then, suddenly, he buried his face in his hands and began to cry, his tears dampening his gloves and trickling out through his fingers. Agumon ran back up to his partner and wrapped his own stubby arms around the boy, comforting. There was no accusation in his bright green eyes as they filled with understanding tears: he had forgiven Taichi for what he had done even while he was doing it.

"Tho-those people in the building…they died because I was too weak to save them," Taichi choked after a moment, beginning to tremble a little bit. "It's all my fault…what happened to them, and to Matt, Gabumon and that girl…it's all because of me! I should have been able to save them…I could have saved them, Agumon!"

Agumon wanted to reply, wanted to say something that would take all of his partner's pain and anger and sorrow away, but no words capable of doing that came to him. So, instead, he simply continued to embrace the boy, hoping that maybe the knowledge that no matter what, he would be there for him, would somehow end up being enough.

* * *

Behind the closet door, Mimi, Miyako, Iori and Palmon crouched in near-silence, each lost in their own thoughts on how best to handle what was happening. Mimi hugged her partner close to her own body, grateful to have her presence so close by and also frightened by the knowledge of what would happen if they were discovered here. She was also worried for Miyako and Iori: although the two children posed no real threat to Myotismon and his henchmon, if they were found with a chosen child like this, it would most likely mean their deaths as well.

Mimi realized with a start that she was biting her lip and quickly stopped doing so, although the tight tension in her heart refused to lighten its own sting as well. Inwardly, the girl raged at herself, wondering just how she had gotten herself into this mess.

__

What am I doing here? The lives of these people depend on me: Miyako, Iori, and Palmon too, not to mention all the people in this building! Why do I have to be the one responsible for them? Tai's the leader boy; he's the one who knows how to deal with situations like this…

Taichi and Yamato…Sora and Koushirou…Takeru and…Jyou…

I'm all alone now. I can't hide behind the others and let them handle everything for me.

It shocked her to think that, but at the same time she knew that it was true. Like it or not, she had to face the fact that she had been relying on everyone else up to this point. In the digital world – she forced herself to acknowledge this now – she had been very dependent on the others working out things for her while she stayed out of it. She had always been more concerned with herself, with not fighting or getting hurt. Oh, sure, there had been times where she had been forced to take a stand, when she had needed to stand up for herself and everyone else, but still, she tended to rely on what everybody else would do to stop things from going wrong.

But now she had no way of contacting them, no way of knowing for certain when exactly they would come attack this place and try to help everyone. And she couldn't afford to sit around and play damsel in distress any longer: too many lives depended on it.

She stood up suddenly, and Palmon, Miyako, and Iori all looked up at her in surprise. She looked back at them, her caramel eyes shining with sudden fire, and her digimon partner regarded her with surprise and shock.

"Mimi?" she asked, startled. Somehow, her partner no longer looked like the whiny young girl she remembered from their early adventures in the digital world.

"Palmon, you'd better get ready. Yolei, Iori, you too."

"Mimi, what's wrong?" Miyako asked, getting to her feet as Iori stood beside her. The older girl looked back at her and smiled, briefly, looking more and more confident and determined the longer she gazed back at her.

"We're not going to wait any longer," she told them, a new light coming into her face, making her seem radiant in a way no one had ever noticed before. "We're going to break out of this place!"


	5. ...When Eyes Meet Eyes

Escape __

Escape! We need to get out of here!

However, as Mimi looked around the cramped closet at the trio of expectant faces around her, she had to admit silently to herself that this would be no easy task. After all, they were just three kids and a digimon against an entire army of evil digimon, and only one of them was any sort of a fighter…and Palmon was a much better warrior when she was in her Champion form, Togemon. Of the children, only Mimi herself had any real experience in fighting the enemy: both Miyako and Iori had been unaware of the Digital World until they had been taken hostage along with their families by Myotismon and his troops. Both she and her partner were the only defense that they had against the enemy…

Mimi bit the inside of her lip to keep herself from trembling, not wanting her two new friends to see her fear. Silently, she wondered just where the other Digidestined children were. She knew, of course, where poor Yamato was: the conversation she had overheard some of the enemy digimon having had revealed to her that he had been captured. She could only pray that he had not been killed; that he, and all of the others, was still alive. That there was still hope…

__

…As long as we can keep fighting, then there's hope…

"So, what's the plan, Mimi?" Miyako asked, wide tan eyes fixed trustingly on the older girl's face. Beside her, Iori was watching Mimi silently, his intense jaden eyes dark with thought. Palmon was also staring at her partner, patiently waiting to hear her plan.

"Okay…" Mimi took a deep breath, steeling herself. "Here's what I figured we could do…"

* * *

__

…There were voices somewhere above her, strange voices that she did not recognize. She could vaguely remember hearing some of them before; she recalled clearly how one had promised that she would be okay, but she could not put names or faces to them. All she could see was an image of an angel…an angel with huge, feathery wings who had knocked away the demon pursuing her…

…Another voice, but this one she could place. The little orange creature with the horn on its head, the one that Matt-sama had told her to protect for him. He was speaking now, talking to the owners of the other voices…she could hear how the voice trembled, faltered, and knew that its owner was nervous about what he had to reveal.

"…Then, right as I lost all my power and changed back, he shoved her over to where I was lying and told her to run away with the Crest of Friendship and me. He…distracted the enemy by shouting insults…they went to attack…I didn't see what happened after that…"

__

…She remembered that. She could still taste the raw terror she had felt at that moment; it had never truly faded away. Shuddering, she moaned with remembered fear.

"…H-hey, I think she's waking up!"

__

…A child? A young boy's voice, one she thought she had overheard right when the angel had appeared, shouting something dimly in the background.

"…Takeru, calm down. She still needs time to recover…she was hurt pretty badly…"

__

…That was the one who had promised she would be okay! So she wasn't in the hands of the enemy…? She wasn't dead…?

"Hello, hello?"

"…Can you hear us? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Jun managed a groan in reply, and slowly forced her wavering brown eyes to open. She had to shut them again almost immediately, for everything blurred so badly that she felt sick, but from the increased chattering of the voices she knew that they had seen her response.

"…Oh man! Are you okay?"

"Jyou, help me help her up!"

Then there were hands gripping her, helping her rise to a sitting position. Not huge, muscular hands, but ones that held a subtle strength all the same. Hands that seemed used to guiding others, judging from the gentle yet insistent way that they helped her up.

"Are you feeling better now?"

Jun opened her eyes again, slowly, and was delighted to find that her vision was not blurring as badly anymore. Raising her head, she found herself staring into the faces of her saviors…a bunch of kids? She blinked, shocked and yet somehow not surprised: the voices had sounded too young to belong to adults, but she had figured that at least one adult might be around somewhere… But no, that was not the case.

Jun looked around, taking in the faces around her. All of them were children: a couple of girls and about five guys, if she counted correctly. More of those strange creatures, too, but somehow that didn't alarm her. Besides, none of these monsters looked anything like the mean ones who had taken her and her family away…and taken Daisuke…

The older girl, the one closer to her, had on a sky-blue helmet that covered most of her hair, letting only a few wispy strands of orange-red out of its confines. Her soft tan eyes were fixed on Jun, filled with concern despite the fact that neither girl recognized the other.

"…Are you feeling better?" she asked, smiling faintly. Jun managed a slight nod in reply, and the girl sighed, "That's a relief. My name is Sora, what's yours?"

"…J-Jun," she heard herself reply, as she looked around at the others. They seemed to sense her uneasiness, and one of them, a young blonde boy with huge sapphire eyes, stepped up to her and grinned.

"I'm Takeru!" he piped, and Jun realized with a start that he was the child she had heard shouting in the background when the angel had rescued her. Indicating the orange, winged creature perched on his head, the boy added, "And this is my friend Patamon!"

"Nice to meet you," Patamon chimed in, and Jun stared at it, somehow not surprised that it could speak.

"And that's Ken, with his partner Minomon," Takeru was continuing, pointing toward a small boy with short, dark blue hair and violet-blue eyes that was holding what looked like a green worm in a cocoon to his chest.

"I'm Wallace, from America," the other blonde boy spoke up, looking at her shyly with mint green eyes. "These are my friends, Gummimon and Kokomon…"

"I'm Jyou," an older boy with glasses said next, and Jun stared at him in surprise, recognizing his voice as the same one who had promised that she would be safe. He gestured toward a white seal with purple spots on its back and a red mohawk as he added, "And this is my partner, Gomamon."

"Hey, glad to see you're still with us," Gomamon said, grinning widely.

"The kid with the pineapple laptop is Koushirou, and the red beetle is his partner, Tentomon," Sora continued, pointing out each in turn as she spoke. "The little girl is Hikari, and the blue In-Training she's holding in her lap is called Chibimon…"

Suddenly the little blue creature was directly in Jun's face; his huge garnet-colored eyes focused directly on her.

"Are you my partner?" it asked in a slightly lisping, childish voice.

"…Uh…I don't…think so," Jun managed to reply after a few moments, blinking in confusion.

"Aww…" Chibimon moaned, sinking back down to the ground with disappointment clearly etched on its face.

"There, there, it'll be okay," Hikari said, pulling the In-Training back into her arms.

"Yeah, I'm sure that you'll find your partner really soon!" Wallace chimed in, smiling reassuringly.

"…Y-you think?" the small blue digimon asked, looking around at the others hopefully.

"…Hey, Jun," Koushirou spoke up after a few moments, his voice so soft that she barely heard him. She looked back at him, dark brown eyes wide, and he asked, "The digimon that attacked you when you were with Yamato and Gabu…Tsunomon…what did it look like?"

"Oh! Well, it looked kind of like a bird," Jun replied, after thinking for a moment. "It had reddish feathers, and the coldest blue eyes I've ever seen…" She shuddered at the memory. "Colder than ice…"

"Yeah, and he had this headband on," Tsunomon chimed in, as he shifted nervously in Sora's lap. "There was a feather sticking out of the top, too; he attacked us with it like it was a boomerang. Its edges were really sharp…"

"Hmm…" Koushirou looked down at his computer screen as his fingers danced over the keys on his laptop. "I can't find any data on such a digimon…did you happen to overhear the Bakemon using its name, by any chance?"

"Um…Bakemon?" Jun asked, a blank expression on her face. Koushirou sweatdropped.

"…You don't know the names of the digimon, do you?" he asked. Jun shook her head no, and he sighed.

"Bakemon are digimon that look like ghosts with huge fangs," Sora explained.

"O-ohhh, I get it now!" Jun chirped, understanding dawning on her face. Her smile faded as quickly as it had appeared, however, and she looked down at the ground as she continued, "No…none of them ever used a name that I heard…"

"Hawkmon…"

The children all looked over at Armadillomon in surprise, and Koushirou asked, "Excuse me?"

"Hawkmon…the name of the digimon that she described is Hawkmon," the armor-plated digimon replied.

"…Hawkmon?" the red-haired keeper of the crest of Knowledge repeated, his dark eyes becoming thoughtful.

"…How do you know that, Armadillomon?" Wallace asked, mint green eyes filled with confusion.

"………" Armadillomon glanced back at the American boy, then slowly got up and stalked away, retreating into a shadowy corner with his back turned toward the others.

"…What's wrong?" Wallace asked, about to get up and walk over to him. However, Wizardmon suddenly placed his hand on the young blonde's shoulder, and shook his head as the boy looked back at him.

"…Leave him alone for a little while," the digimon instructed, quietly. "Something appears to be bothering him, and it may not be a good idea for you to go talk to him just now…"

* * *

Armadillomon stared off into the shadows, back turned on the Digidestined and their companions.

__

So he's here, then…I knew it, the armored digimon mused, green eyes darkening. _I knew that he would bring you here…oh, man, what has he been doing to you, buddy?_

The young Rookie closed his eyes with remembered pain as memories of the past swept over him, taking him back to that fateful day…

* * *

__

Everything was burning. It seemed as though the entire world had suddenly burst aflame, transforming the peaceful life that the two friends had known into a new hell.

Neither of the tiny In-Trainings knew exactly what to think about what was happening to them. For as long as both of them had known, they had lived at the small forest shrine, staying at the otherwise abandoned building with only each other for company. They had never ventured from the safety of its walls, never strayed away from it for any reason. They had no friends apart from each other; the entire world to them consisted of the shrine and themselves.

Why had they never left the building, why had they never gone looking for a new place to live, for friends? Neither was certain, knowing only that they didn't feel as if they needed to. Something seemed to bind them to the building, a force beyond the understanding of either of the young digimon. They felt as if they were waiting there…for something… someone…

But now the shrine was gone, ablaze, and the two In-Training were fleeing into the forest, pursued by the shadowy forms of the ones who had torched their home. The howls of their chasers echoed all around them.

__

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!" the yellow-skinned one cried, as he began to fall farther and farther behind his pink-feathered friend.

__

"Just keep moving! Don't stop!" came the panted reply.

__

Suddenly, his friend's scream ripped through him, and the small avian turned to see that the yellow-skinned In-Training had fallen, and was currently scrambling to right himself, a task made somewhat difficult by his lack of appendages. Their pursuers were drawing closer: he could make out their beady black eyes and yellowed, jagged teeth from where he stood, hesitating. To turn back now would probably mean capture, and then…?

His friend finally managed to right himself, and he sucked in a sharp gasp as he noticed the angry reddening mark on the pale yellow skin. Whimpering, the In-Training hopped into the nearby underbrush. Unable to flee anymore, the terrified young digimon could only cower in his hiding spot, and pray that he was not detected.

Seeing his lifelong friend and companion in such danger caused something to snap in the flying In-Training's heart. He could not…no, would not abandon him when he needed him the most. Taking a deep breath, he used the only attack he knew: a spray of bubbles that erupted from his tiny beak and took the closest of their pursuers full in his ugly face.

He felt a strange sense of satisfaction as the startled enemy fell backward, crashing into some of his companions. He caught a glimpse of his friend's stunned expression as he flew forward, horror and shock filling his wide black eyes as he realized what he was doing. Ignoring that, he flung himself right into the center of his first battle.

Of course he was going to lose; he understood that perfectly. As fast as he was able to fly with his tiny pink wings, as good a shot as he might be with his bubble spray, he was still only an In-Training, and he had never fought in a real battle before. He knew he could never seriously hope to defeat these digimon, so he concentrated on leading them away from his still hiding friend instead.

As he took off, darting away as fast as he could with the now furious enemy in pursuit, the yellow-skinned In-Training watched him leave from the relative safety of his hiding spot. Trembling with fear, the little digimon began to cry softly to himself.

Meanwhile, the ghost digimon were closing in on their quarry. Exhausted, the little pink In-Training nevertheless struggled as grimy hands seized him from all sides…

* * *

Ice-blue eyes flashed open as the bird digimon snapped out of his reverie. Shaking his head irritably, Hawkmon silently berated himself for allowing his mind to wander off like that while he was on duty. If Myotismon had found him like that, he would have gotten into serious trouble…

Something bumped into him from behind, and Hawkmon whirled around to face it, one wing reaching reflexively for the razor-sharp feather in his headband. His pale blue eyes narrowed in annoyance as he saw what had brushed against him; a small patrol of Bakemon was drifting past him, and one of the idiotic digimon had accidentally run into him. The pathetic creature shied away from him, obviously thinking that he was going to attack. For a moment, he seriously considered it, but then dismissed the idea as a waste of his time.

"Get out of my sight," he snarled instead, coldly glaring at the Bakemon.

Nervous, but thankful to still be alive, the ghost digimon scurried back to join its patrol again, leaving Hawkmon still glaring after it. He sighed in frustration; he found it more and more difficult to believe that these sort of worthless creatures had once overpowered and defeated him. Even if he only had been an In-Training at that time…

Suddenly his ice-blue eyes narrowed into slits as he noticed something…off…about the Bakemon's movements. The ghost digimon was moving very oddly, swerving from side to side occasionally as it trailed after its patrol. It was an abnormally small group, as well: while the incompetent digimon typically moved in swarms in order to overwhelm their opponents, he could only see four Bakemon in this team…

…and he could also see that all four of them had feet.

Thinking quickly, Hawkmon grabbed his razor feather again and threw it directly at the false Bakemon. It unerringly flew through midair to its target, and the lead 'Bakemon' let out an agonized shriek as its edge bit into the half-concealed skin of its legs. It toppled over, and the avian digimon raced toward them, already preparing another attack.

* * *

"Mimi!"

The strawberry blonde-haired girl shrieked as her legs seemed to drop right out from beneath her and she crumpled to the ground, costume fluttering around her. Through a haze of pain, she glanced down at the floor, and bit back another scream as her dimming gaze focused on her legs. All she could see was a rapidly spreading crimson stain beneath her: the same angry red that covered her legs and boots.

__

Great…Mom's going to have a fit about her sheets, and it's going to be so hard to get these bloodstains out of my clothes…

She had no idea where that thought had come from: one of the drawbacks of living a fairly spoiled life for nearly ten years, she supposed…

"Palmon, digivolve!" she shouted, knowing that the enemy was already aware of their presence. If they were going to take advantage of the fact that they had a digimon on their side, they had to make their move _now…_

"Palmon, digivolve to…"

Suddenly the Rookie's voice was cut off in mid-shout, and Mimi felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach as she heard a dull thud beside her. Looking up, she confirmed her worst suspicions: her partner lay sprawled on the floor, eyes spiraling as she moaned in pain.

She could just barely see the digimon who had attacked them standing a few feet away, a cruel smile on his beak as he approached them. Mimi shuddered: the avian's pale blue eyes reminded her of pure ice, glittering faintly as they raked over her fallen body and that of her partner.

"Miyako, Iori…run away," Mimi whispered, trying to control her trembling as best she could.

However, the young boy responded simply by standing in front of her, blocking the evil digimon's path. Iori gripped the wooden broomstick he had carried from the closet in both hands, mimicking the stance he had seen his grandfather use so many times during his kendo practice. Behind him, Mimi and Miyako gasped in horror.

"Wha…what are you doing, Iori?! Run away…get out of here!" the bearer of Sincerity pleaded.

Iori just shook his head slightly, never taking his eyes off of his opponent. The bird digimon had paused in his approach when the boy had first stepped in his path, and was studying the scene before him in surprise, a hint of amusement glinting in his cold blue eyes.

Behind him, Mimi struggled to push herself up with both arms, even though she knew in the back of her mind that the gesture was useless. She could barely feel her injured legs anymore: even if she did manage to force herself up, how could she possibly stand, let alone run away…?

"Iori, Miyako, I am ordering you two to run away…please, just leave," she pleaded again, seeing that neither one was reacting.

Palmon let out another faint moan, and Mimi quickly glanced over at her partner. If the plant digimon managed to regain consciousness again, maybe there was a chance that she could still digivolve… but would that be enough, now? She had hoped that the Bakemon costumes would keep them from being detected for a longer time than they had, but… and even if they somehow managed to escape this digimon, her costume was ruined…

__

…Wait a second…

Mimi felt her caramel eyes widen slightly as a sudden realization hit her. Thinking quickly, she glanced over at the enemy digimon again, then looked back at Miyako. The violet-haired girl had frozen, and was staring at the bird digimon with an expression of pure horror on her face, tan eyes huge with fear. Mimi felt a short pang of recognition, knowing that she had often had a similar look on her face during her adventures in the Digiworld…

"…Miyako, help me with this," she whispered urgently, locking eyes with the younger girl. Miyako stared at her in confusion for a moment, and Mimi quickly added, "Just hurry, okay…we need to help Iori…"

That got Miyako's full attention, and the violet-haired girl cast a frightened glance toward her friend, biting the inside of her lip. Her gaze flicked over to the enemy digimon, and she winced visibly, then turned back toward Mimi.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered back.

Meanwhile, Hawkmon was studying the small group before him with a slight smirk on his beak. A little kid with a stick, a pair of longhaired, wide-eyed girls, and a digimon…not a very big group, but one that interested him all the same. The digimon's presence, in particular, intrigued him: from his master's briefings, he knew that one of the Digidestined kids happened to have a Palmon for a partner…probably that girl in pink, if he had overheard her command clearly. His smirk widened into a cocky grin: the master would be pleased to discover that another Digidestined child had fallen into his clutches.

He stepped closer, and the little boy swung his broomstick directly at the bird digimon's face. In a movement too swift to follow, Hawkmon whipped out his razor feather and slashed through the makeshift weapon, slicing it neatly in half. The little boy's jaden eyes widened with shock as he saw the pieces of his weapon fall to the ground, leaving him holding what was left, and Hawkmon's sneer grew wider as he brought his wing back to strike the distracted child…

Suddenly the entire world went white, as something engulfed his body entirely. Startled, it took the bird digimon a moment to register what was happening, even as he heard a female voice shout out orders:

"Come on, let's get out of here! Iori, Miyako, help Palmon, alright?"

"But what about you, Mimi?" a whispery voice asked, sounding extremely concerned. "Your leg is…"

"I'll be fine! You guys need to look out for yourselves!"

"We're not leaving you, Mimi!"

Cursing, Hawkmon thrashed wildly to free himself from the white sheet that the girls had thrown over him, while with a part of his mind he listened to the sound of the group's footsteps getting farther and farther away. Yanking it off, he looked up in time to catch a glimpse of them running away, the young boy helping the digimon along while the violet-haired girl aided the other female human. Ice blue eyes narrowing in outrage, he got up to follow, shouting at them to halt.

"Does he really think that we're going to listen to him?" Miyako noted under her breath, panting as she ran forward.

"Just keep moving!" Mimi ordered, struggling to run on her injured foot so she wouldn't slow down the others as much. Her legs ached horribly, but she tried not to think about the pain too much.

Suddenly Miyako stopped short, and Mimi heard the younger girl whisper, "Uh-oh…"

Looking up through a haze of pain, it took the bearer of Sincerity a few moments to realize what was wrong. Her heart seemed to drop into her stomach as she realized belatedly that she should have been focusing on directing her friends out of the building. However, since she had failed to give them any ideas about which way they needed to go to get out, the panicked kids had run blindly, ending up taking a wrong turn and finding themselves on the rooftop.

A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed Mimi's worst fears: their pursuer hadn't been far behind, and the avian tossed his razor feather at the cornered group.

"Get down!" Mimi shouted, and managed to knock Miyako, Iori and Palmon down before the sharp edge of the boomerang sliced into her shoulder. Thankfully, she flung herself down in time to avoid a fatal injury, but the girl still shrieked as a shallow gash appeared in her back.

"Mimi!" Miyako and Iori shouted in unison, seeing her collapse.

"…Mim…Mimi," Palmon moaned, shifting as she struggled to stand up again and aid her partner.

As Iori attempted to help the plant digimon stand, Miyako stared at the scene in horror, wavering caramel eyes huge behind her glasses. With their monster ally still recovering, Mimi's injuries, and Iori's preoccupation with helping their wounded companions, that left only one of them in any position to do anything about their enemy was…

"We're dead," Miyako muttered, sweatdropping.

However, she couldn't simply give up on the others now…they'd made it this far together, and if she had anything to say about it, they were going to escape. Taking a deep breath, the violet-haired girl pushed her glasses back up onto her nose and nervously gripped her makeshift Bakemon costume: she was the only one who had managed to hold onto hers for this long. Using the sheet had distracted their pursuer once before…could she get that trick to work again…?

There was no time to think, only to act. Whirling on her heel to face her adversary, Miyako closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at the digital monster and flung herself in his direction, hoping to tackle him.

Hawkmon froze, taken off guard by the little girl's sudden assault. Apparently the humans were braver than he'd given them credit for… Still, it was a worthless gesture. Easily dodging the female human's flailing attempt to trap him in the white sheet she was carrying, Hawkmon brought his wing swiftly down against the back of her neck. The girl made a sharp, strange noise that sounded oddly like a squawk and dropped to the ground, one hand instinctively covering her wounded neck. Before she could rise, the avian digimon had whipped out his razor feather and placed it just underneath her neck. She froze, trembling faintly, and Hawkmon smirked coldly.

"Hey!" the little boy shouted, seeing his friend in danger. He started forward, but a quick glare from ice blue eyes froze the child in his tracks.

"Don't even think about trying anything, or your friend will face a very painful death," Hawkmon hissed threateningly, pressing his razor feather a little closer to the violet-haired girl's neck to further emphasize his threat. The boy backed off obediently, and Hawkmon sneered, "That's better…"

Inwardly, the bird digimon rejoiced. Not only had he captured these errant humans single-handedly, but he was certain that the digimon was one of the chosen ones. That meant that one of these brats was her partner…

"All right, which one of you is that digimon's friend?" he asked, glaring down at the violet-haired girl. When none of them answered, he raised his sharp feather closer to his captive's neck and hissed, "Is it you? Look at me, human brat, and tell me what I want to know… Look, or else you'll suffer more!"

She did not answer, so Hawkmon grimaced and yanked on her hair, causing her to cry out faintly.

"No matter what happens, I will give you to my master, Myotismon," he told her, ice blue eyes gleaming. "But you'll get to choose whether or not I give you to him whole…" –here he pressed his weapon closer to her throat until he drew a drop of blood- "…or in pieces!"

Silence. Enraged, Hawkmon yanked on the girl's lilac hair again, forcing her to look directly into his face…

He froze, stunned, as their eyes met for the first time since he had spotted them. Two shimmering orbs of caramel light met his cold, pale blue gaze and widened slightly behind panes of glass, filling with fear, a wild terror…and a strange sense of anger. She was… enraged at the humiliation he was putting her through? The thought might have made him laugh, had he not been shocked into silence by the sight of her face.

She made no sound, not even a cry of fear…but her huge eyes seemed to penetrate into the very depths of his being, plunging into the coldness of his heart, his spirit, and embedding themselves…itself…_herself_…into him. Mere words could never describe the wave of emotions that engulfed the avian digimon at that moment: everything about the girl was suddenly part of him, and Hawkmon got the strangest feeling that he was a part of her…

It was too much for him to bear, and Hawkmon gasped, releasing the girl's hair and staggering backward, covering his face with one wing.

"Wha…_what did you do to me?!?_" he demanded hoarsely, gasping for breath.

She said nothing, but continued to stare at him with those haunting tan eyes of hers, a stunned expression on her face. Hawkmon winced: her eyes felt like they were burning into his body, penetrating straight into his heart…

"…G-go away! Stop this! Whatever you're doing to me, cease it at once!" he screamed, barely able to recognize his own voice. Gone was its normal detached, icy tone, replaced by a quavering, broken tone that he cringed to hear, grating on his own ears.

Clutching his aching head between both wings, Hawkmon screeched and crumpled to the ground, momentarily paralyzed by the unfamiliar emotions surging through him. He felt as if he was struggling with something, although just what he was fighting, he couldn't put a name to.

Miyako stared at the bird digimon in shock, absently folding her trembling hands against her chest. She had felt something…pass between them, that was the only way she could think to possibly describe it. She had stared up into pale, icy blue eyes and felt…what?

"Mim…Mimi! Mimi!" a quavering voice shouted behind her: Miyako barely noticed it through the fog surrounding her senses at the moment. Vaguely, she recognized the voice as belonging to the digimon, Palmon.

"Mimi!" Palmon sobbed, tears filling her huge verdant eyes as she shook her partner's shoulders. The strawberry-blonde-haired girl looked up at her with pain-fogged caramel eyes and smiled faintly.

"Pal-Palmon? Thank…thank goodness you're alright," Mimi breathed, reaching up toward her friend's face. "Can…do you think you'll be able to…"

"…Yeah, I think so," Palmon answered, realizing what her partner was trying to ask. "Don't worry, Mimi, I'll protect you! I promise!"

Mimi smiled, even as pain and fatigue took over her senses, and as the girl's shimmering tan eyes drifted shut, the crest around her neck began to glow with a faint, leaf green aura.

"Mi-Mimi? …_MIMI!_" Palmon shrieked, tears falling from her eyes as she saw her friend pass out.

One of the plant digimon's teardrops landed squarely on the center of the Crest of Sincerity and Purity, and suddenly the verdant aura burst into violent light, glowing like a beacon on the unconscious girl's chest.

"Palmon digivolve to…"

Palmon shouted the words instinctively as she felt her body undergo the familiar metamorphosis, her tiny body expanding and growing into the giant cactus known as Togemon, her Champion form. However, instead of announcing her name to the world as she typically did at the end of this change, the plant digimon suddenly trailed off into silence. Togemon was not enough; somehow, she knew that she would not be able to aid her partner anymore in this form. As a Champion, she was a warrior, a fighter able to sent deadly sprays of needles in every direction…but no amount of battling would be able to help Mimi now. They had to retreat, escape, not fight…

Her consciousness seemed to rise out of Togemon's huge body, leaving it an empty shell. A single flower bud materialized on the cactus's head, and the digimon of Sincerity and Purity felt her energy, her spirit, flow into it instead. Guided by instinct and a desire to aid Mimi alone, she shaped her body into a new form, one that could be of use to them. Emerging from the cocoon created by the flower's soft pink petals, she twirled around in midair on fluttering wings, testing her slender arms and legs, long, vine-like hair whipping around her delicate face.

A name formed in her mind, and the digimon called it out, recognizing it as her own:

"…Lilymon!"

Gazing down at those so far below her, the newly born Ultimate giggled lightly at the expressions she saw on the faces of her audience. Miyako and Iori were awestruck, the lilac-haired girl's mouth hanging open slightly as she stared at the pixie digimon. Even Hawkmon appeared to be impressed, his pale blue eyes unnaturally wide with shock.

However, Lilymon's amusement lasted only a moment, fading the instant her gaze rested on the unconscious form of Mimi. Folding her leaf-like wings behind her, she dove back toward the small group, intentionally nearly crashing into Hawkmon so as to distract the enemy digimon.

"Come on, we have to get moving!" Lilymon shouted, lifting up Mimi's limp form in her arms. She didn't know if she could carry all three of the children at once, but she had to try…she refused to leave any of them behind. "Just hold onto me, okay?"

"O…okay!" Miyako agreed, snapping out of her awestruck stupor. Seizing Iori's hand, she forced the young boy to wrap his arms around the Ultimate digimon's chest, then pulled herself into place behind him, positioning herself so that if his grip started to slip, she would be directly beneath him and able to catch him.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Iori asked, his whispering voice quavering slightly at the thought of flying through midair supported only by the digimon's frail-looking wings.

"Do we have a choice?" Miyako commented darkly, looking over at Hawkmon nervously. The avian digimon still appeared to be recovering from the shock of whatever had passed between them earlier, plus Lilymon's attack, so hopefully he couldn't interfere, but…

"…St-stop!" Hawkmon shouted, already attempting to stagger forward and keep them from escaping.

Lilymon took a deep breath, and her wings beat wildly as she sprang into midair, struggling to support the three children. It was difficult; she knew that her slight frame was not really suited to carrying others, but at the same moment, her desire to protect these three at all costs drove her forward. Wings straining, she managed to fly clumsily forward, striving to put as much distance between them and the enemy headquarters as possible before she was forced to land and rest.

"Stop!" Hawkmon ordered again, but the bird digimon could not give chase: he still felt extremely drained, and he slumped to the floor in defeat, pale blue eyes fixed on the retreating figures of his quarry.

He needed rest. The bird digimon's body shrieked at him for relief, to relax…but he could not. He dared only rest for a moment, enough to regain his strength, before reporting this to his master. Hawkmon moaned silently, wondering how he could phrase this loss in a way that would avoid his punishment for such failure…if such a thing was likely…

A single name kept repeating through his mind, over and over again, until he was finally forced to give it voice in a hushed, defeated sigh…

"…Miyako…"


	6. Mistakes Made

Paths Untaken Part 6

"Ooooh…ooooohhhhh…."

Lilymon winced as she heard Miyako's soft groaning; the violet-haired girl's huge tan eyes were currently locked on the streets so far below them, and she could feel the young human trembling with fear. Not that she blamed her: this was the newly born Ultimate's first flight as well, and she sensed that, all things considered, she was not doing so well. The weight of her three passengers was almost too much for her delicate wings to bear: she weaved and bobbed dangerously through midair, struggling to keep aloft for as long as possible.

In her arms, Mimi moaned as well; however, unlike the younger girl, her cries were not caused by fear, but by pain. Her wounded leg hung limply, unsupported, and the gash in the back of her shoulder, while mercifully shallow, still bled slightly. She needed some sort of medical attention, but Lilymon had no idea where she could find some for her partner. Where could she go that would be safe…?

"…Yeek! Lilymon!" Miyako wailed, tightening her death grip on the pixie digimon as she felt them drop slightly, faltering. "Be careful!"

"Sorry, Miyako," Lilymon replied, and hastily snapped herself back to attention.

__

I have to focus on what's happening now, she told herself stubbornly. _I can't…I won't let Mimi, Iori or Miyako down! I have to protect them…_

But it was hard, so hard to keep moving. Her body ached for rest: how much longer could she keep her Ultimate form? Sooner or later, she would have to revert to one of her lower, less draining forms, and from the way her leaf-like wings strained just to keep them in the air, it would have to be sooner…

* * *

"Tai, Tai, slow down!" Agumon called, hurrying after his friend and partner.

The bearer of Courage gave no sign that he had heard the Rookie's cry; Taichi continued to stomp forward, burning brown eyes focused on the road before him. Despite the fact that he was being ignored, Agumon scampered after the boy, nearly tripping over his own two feet in his haste to keep up.

"Come on, Tai, don't leave me behind!"

Still no reply came, no acknowledgement of his existence. The little reptile digimon was starting to get annoyed with his partner, but, luckily for Taichi, concern for his friend came first and foremost in Agumon's mind. He knew what was bothering the boy, but didn't know how he could help.

That sincerely confused and upset Agumon: he was used to threats he could fight, not ones he could do little about. If it had been another evil digimon bothering Taichi, then he could have simply digivolved and wiped it out with his attacks. But no, what Taichi was struggling with was a foe from inside himself, one that the Rookie could not destroy for the boy.

"Tai, please…! I know you're upset about what happened to Matt, but…"

The boy froze in his tracks, whirling around to glare at Agumon with blazing brown eyes, and the Rookie flinched involuntarily, remembering what had happened after their battle with the Bakemon. He was worried about his partner, but at the same time, wasn't really looking forward to possibly getting smacked again…

However, Taichi's shoulders suddenly slumped, and the boy looked away, avoiding the Rookie digimon's worried green eyes.

"…I've been running," he whispered under his breath, so faintly that Agumon wasn't certain that he had heard him correctly.

"What do you mean, Tai…?"

A flicker of movement at the edge of Taichi's line of vision, causing the boy to ignore his friend's question for the moment as he turned and looked around. Seeing that his partner was looking for something, Agumon started scanning the area as well. After a few moments, the digimon happened to glance upward, and his mouth fell open as he saw something extremely unusual…

"Tai, Tai, look up there!" he cried, pointing.

Following his partner's direction, Taichi gazed up into the sky, tensing as he spotted something unfamiliar flying above them. It was too far above them for him to make it out clearly: all he could make out was a vague form flying over their heads, obviously not an airplane or helicopter…

"Is it an enemy?" he wondered aloud, bronze eyes narrowing slightly as he studied the indistinct figure.

Gripping the Crest of Courage tightly in his palm, Taichi gradually realized that the tag was glowing faintly. Staring up at the unfamiliar form so high above them, he made his decision.

"Agumon, do it!" he shouted, whirling to face his partner.

Agumon nodded quickly, even as he shouted, "Agumon digivolve to…"

A bright orange aura pulsed around the digimon's body as he shifted into his Champion stage, every muscle and bone in his small, lizard-like frame expanding and contorting to fit his new form. Brown slash-like stripes appeared on his darkening orange skin; a thick, helmet-like covering outcropping appeared on his head; friendly green eyes became a pale, light reddish hue.

"…Greymon!" he finished with a growl, roaring out a challenge to the unidentified digimon so high above them.

* * *

"…Huh?" Miyako stared down at the ground, tan eyes huge behind her slightly askew glasses.

"What's wrong, Yolei-chan?" Iori queried, using the violet-haired girl's nickname again.

"I don't know, I just thought that I saw this bright light below us," she replied, still staring down at the streets below them. After a few moments, she added, "…But I think it's gone not. Wonder what it was…"

Curious, Iori followed her gaze down to the pavement, jaden eyes narrowing slightly as he strained to make out what the girl could have seen. Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no!" he cried, his normally whispery voice cracking out of fear.

"What is it?!" Miyako exclaimed, trying to make out what had alarmed the young boy.

"Lilymon, let's get out of here!" he told the Ultimate digimon, ignoring Miyako's startled cry at his frantic tone.

Before Lilymon could react, however, an orange blast of fire shot past them, narrowly missing striking the four head on. The fairy digimon quickly flew to one side, avoiding the streak of flame, wincing as it singed one of her fragile, leaf-like wings.

"_KYYYAAAAA!_" Miyako wailed, clinging to Iori, Mimi and Lilymon for dear life.

"Hang on!" Lilymon told them unnecessarily, already struggling to fly away.

Mimi moaned slightly, stirring again, and the pixie digimon gritted her teeth in both frustration and determination. Her partner was still unconscious from her wounds, helpless… if Lilymon failed to protect her from this unseen enemy, she would be lost, along with her two friends…

A second stream of white-hot flame seared towards them, and Lilymon twisted to one side desperately, thinking only to get her precious burden out of the line of fire. It worked, but with a grave trade-off: instead of the children getting fried, the orange fireball caught her right wing. Intense pain surged up and down the digimon's side, and she let out an agonized shriek.

"_LILYMON!_" Miyako and Iori shouted in unison.

Then Miyako's cry of concern rose into a terrified wail as the four plummeted to the ground, no longer fully supported by the digimon's wounded wings. Gritting her teeth, Lilymon struggled to control their rapid descent, but it was a losing battle she fought with gravity.

"Oh-Kami-we're-gonna-die-we're-gonna-die-we're-gonna-die…" Miyako repeated over and over again like some sort of twisted mantra as the ground loomed ever closer.

__

No, we won't, Lilymon thought grimly, though she couldn't say this reassurance aloud due to the intense pain surging through her body.

With a last burst of strength, the fairy digimon managed to flip herself over, so that now her back was pointed toward the nearing ground. Wings beating feebly, she somehow managed to control their fall just enough to send them crashing into the trees instead of hitting solid, unforgiving concrete.

As the small group slammed into the grass, Lilymon let out a final, strangled cry before darkness flooded her vision, along with a dim tingling sensation that was spreading through her numbing body…

* * *

"Yeah, you nailed them!" Taichi cheered as he saw the strange digimon tumble into the park, already running forward to get a better look.

However, as he neared the crash site, the boy's triumphant expression soon transformed, twisting into first a look of pure disbelief, then growing comprehension and fear. He stopped short, causing Agumon, who had shifted back to his normal body and followed his partner, to crash into the back of the boy's legs.

"Hey, Tai, what's the holdup? Why did you…?"

The little orange dinosaur broke off his query abruptly as he then saw what Taichi was staring at in such horror: there was no sign of the huge, hulking digimon they believed they had been shooting down. Instead, there was a young girl with disheveled violet hair and huge round glasses hanging crookedly on her nose and a little boy with short brown hair and dark jaden eyes sitting there. Both were currently crouched beside a pair of limp bodies, desperately pleading with them to get up.

Both Taichi and Agumon recognized the unconscious forms: two of their teammates and friends, Mimi and Palmon…

"…Oh no. I screwed up again," Taichi murmured sadly, shaking his head slowly, deep bronze eyes filling with self-loathing and sorrow.

"Tai…"

As if suddenly becoming aware of the fact that they were no longer alone, the two young strangers looked up in unison. Seeing Taichi and Agumon standing there, the violet-haired girl with glasses let out a startled yelp and leapt to her feet, staring at them.

"Wh-who are you?" she stammered, obviously horrified.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm a friend," Taichi replied, holding up his hands to calm her. When she gave him a doubting look, he pointed to Mimi and added, "I'm one of Mimi and Palmon's friends, okay? It's alright… I just want to help you…"

"I think he's okay, Yolei-chan," the little boy spoke up in a quiet, whispery voice. "This must be one of the friends Mimi told us about, the ones she said were fighting against the bad digimon…"

The girl relaxed visibly at his words, as did Taichi. At least they trusted him… although, if they had known that he was the one who had caused their flight to come to an abrupt end, he had little doubt that they would be much more wary of him. He could only hope that Agumon knew enough to keep his mouth shut… if the Rookie attempted to apologize for the incident, it would only make things worse…

Thankfully, Agumon appeared to sense this fact, for he made no indication of planning to say such a thing. Instead, the orange dinosaur walked over to where Palmon was laying and picked her limp form up carefully in both arms, then turned to look at his partner.

Silently, Taichi followed his digimon's lead, and as he lifted Mimi into his arms, the keeper of the Crest of Sincerity and Purity moaned faintly. That was his only warning before he found himself staring into a pair of wavering, pain-filled caramel eyes.

"Tai… Taichi?" the strawberry-blonde haired girl whispered, reaching toward the boy's face with a shaking hand.

"…I'm here, Mimi," Taichi replied simply, grasping her hand tightly in one of his own. "It's okay now. You're safe with me."

"…Palmon is…?"

"Right here, Mimi," Agumon answered quickly, walking into her line of vision.

Iori and Miyako stepped forward as well, so that she could see them easily without having to ask after them. Mimi smiled shakily, missing how the holder of Courage stumbled over these last words, his voice cracking a bit. A few crystalline tears glimmered in her shimmering tan eyes, born partly from pain, partly from relief. At last, she and her new friends were safe… as safe as they could be as long as Myotismon ruled the streets, that was…

"…Say Tai?"

"…Yeah, Mimi?"

"…This'll sound strange, but… do you think we could stop by my house and pick up some different clothes for me? My pajamas are trashed, and I can't let the others see me like this…"

"…Same old Mimi," commented Taichi mildly, shaking his head, but he grinned in relief as he said this.

"…Am I, Taichi?" the bearer of Purity and Sincerity whispered quietly, leaning gently into his chest, caramel eyes wavering and thoughtful. "Are any of us still the same…?"

She thought she felt Taichi stiffen slightly at her soft observation, but could not be absolutely certain. She did not even know if he had overheard her. Instead of asking if he understood, Mimi simply lapsed into silence, allowing herself to drift back into a fitful half-sleep as Taichi instructed Agumon to digivolve and carry them to her home. She had so much to tell the others… but right now, all she wanted to do was rest…

* * *

"I am very disappointed in you, Hawkmon. I thought that you were more capable than this…"

The avian digimon winced, but managed to carefully conceal this reaction from his master by keeping his head lowered, remaining in his respectful kneeling position on the floor, head bowed. Even though his pale ice blue eyes were averted away from his master's face, he could easily picture Myotismon's displeased scowl in his mind's eye: narrow eyes flashing with faint crimson, pale purple lips curled up slightly in disgust, one revealed fang's tip glinting in the room's dim light.

Perched beside the vampire digimon, as usual, was the ugly half-bowling ball, half-bat rookie known as Demidevimon, who was reveling in his perceived rival's apparent fall from grace. An ugly sneer distorted the little creature's already somewhat unpleasant face, and he was hard-pressed to keep his snickering quiet enough to keep from distracting Myotismon from berating Hawkmon. The bird digimon grimaced at the grating sound, and would have glared at the little digimon if he had believed that he might possibly get away with it.

"You see, boss?" Demidevimon crowed, smirking. "Looks like the little birdie's not as useful as you first thought, huh, master? Why, if it had been me, that Digidestined kid would be yours now…"

__

Oh, please, Hawkmon thought bitterly, ice blue eyes flashing with anger. _You stupid little bat, you wouldn't have even noticed anything wrong until later…_

At the same time, however, the avian digimon couldn't hide a slight smirk at his rival's bragging. As was usual, his pathetic excuse for a rival was simply digging himself in deeper with his bravado.

"Well, then, Demidevimon, if you don't mind my asking," he replied quietly, voice remarkably calm considering his situation, "just when were you planning on informing Master Myotismon that there was a Digidestined among the children you were guarding? Since you appear to be more attuned to these things than I am, considering my failure, surely you must have been aware of this fact, hmm?"

Again, Hawkmon did not need to raise his head to know how those before him reacted: Demidevimon went sheet white, while Myotismon swung his attention toward the bat-like rookie at once, arching one pencil-thin eyebrow slightly. Without realizing it, the other underling had inadvertently supplied the bird digimon with a way to shift their master's focus from his own shortcomings to the other's failings.

It was not all that easy, of course: Hawkmon knew that he would have to be extremely careful from now on to stay in the vampire digimon's good graces. He had lost one Digidestined child, but he had brought him another before… the keeper of Friendship. Demidevimon did not have that to fall back on, even though he had been making attempts for a longer time than the avian digimon had been. Still, he would be cautious… He couldn't expect to fall back upon that forever…

__

I will not fail you again, master, he vowed silently, stubbornly pushing the memory of just why he had failed out of his mind. No matter what had caused his hesitation before, he would not fall victim to it again.

He couldn't afford to…

* * *

Mimi turned around and studied her reflection carefully in the mirror before her, taking great care not to lay too much weight on her injured ankle. She was pleased to note that she presented a whole, undamaged appearance on the outside: the bandages wrapped round her injured back and leg were concealed by her outfit, which looked more or less like the one she had worn during her first excursion into the digital world.

It was strange: for once, she did not care that she would be wearing the same thing in front of her friends. Before her adventures in the digital world, she had prided herself somewhat on having an immense wardrobe, with so many possibilities to show off to her classmates and acquaintances. That had been one luxury Mimi had sorely missed while she was traveling with the others, and had always thought would be one of the things she treasured most once she finally got back home.

But now… that simply did not seem to matter anymore to her. It seemed so trivial to be worried about clothing at a time like this… when their home was overrun with evil digimon, and one of their own was…

Caramel eyes wavered with tears again, and Mimi sighed as she turned away from the mirror and walked toward her door. Taichi, Palmon, Agumon, Miyako and Iori were all waiting for her in what remained of her family's trashed living room, and she needed to tell the bearer of Courage what she had learned during her captivity…

Opening the door, she stopped short, eyes widening with surprise. While the room was still in need of repair, it was a lot cleaner than it had been when she had first seen it: apparently the others had not been idle while she was changing. As she stared around in amazement, Miyako walked in and saw her standing there.

"Hey! Are you feeling better, Mimi?" the violet-haired girl asked, smiling happily at seeing the older girl up and about. "Wow, that's a nice outfit you're wearing. Is it new? I can't say I've seen a style like that before…"

"…No, it's not new," Mimi replied after a short pause, still looking around the cleaned-up living room in surprise. Turning toward Miyako, she asked, "You guys did this, right?"

"Eh? Oh… yeah, Taichi said that you might take a while to get changed, and suggested that we get this place cleaned up a little while we waited. It's not quite finished, but…"

"That's okay… thanks," Mimi said, smiling gratefully even as she silently reminded herself to ask Taichi exactly what he had meant by saying that she 'might take a while to get changed'… "Where are the others right now?"

"Hang on, I'll take you to them," replied Miyako, and she ran ahead of the older girl, calling, "Hey guys, Mimi's done!"

"Hey, Mimi. Feeling better now?" Taichi asked as the bearer of Sincerity and Purity walked into his view. Turning away from the wall where he had been straightening a picture, he frowned as he noted a sad expression on his friend's face, and asked, "What's wrong, Mimi?"

The strawberry-blonde haired girl did not answer right away, her gaze focused on something past him, and Taichi turned to see what she was looking at. After a few moments, he sighed silently as he realized what was wrong: the picture he had been adjusting was a photo of Mimi with her mother in her parents' flower garden. It looked fairly recent, and had probably been taken sometime that spring, since Mimi didn't look much younger than she was now. In the photograph, she was kneeling beside a flowering bush, hands cupped around a beautiful pink flower still blossoming on its bush, wide caramel eyes lighting up with delight. Her mother was just behind her, one hand gently clasping her daughter's shoulder, gently smiling at her child's joy.

Taichi had seen the flower garden when they arrived, or rather, what was left of it. The delicate blossoms had been trampled to the ground, the bushes wrecked, some of the plants completely uprooted. It was just another victim to Myotismon's assaults on the city, another causality…

__

…Just like those children in the building the ones you didn't save Taichi just like Yamato and Jun and Garurumon do you remember Taichi do you…

"…I'm sorry, Tai."

"…Mimi, you don't have to be sorry for anything. None of this was your fault," replied Taichi solemnly, a shadow falling over his shimmering bronze eyes as he bowed his head in remembrance.

__

…Not like me…

"No… Tai, you don't understand. I… I found out something horrible while I was being held captive with Miyako and Iori, and I… I couldn't do anything about it…"

The holder of Purity and Sincerity trailed off, absently grasping her crest tightly in one hand, tears misting her soft tan eyes. Absently, Taichi reached down and gripped her shoulders firmly in both hands, feeling some need to keep her spirits up. After all, he was supposed to be the leader of the Digidestined… even if only in his own mind.

"Hey, come on, Mimi, what's wrong? You can tell me…" he prompted gently.

Sniffling, Mimi gazed up into his face, tears trickling lightly down her pale cheeks.

"Taichi… Myotismon has Yamato."

"What?!?" Taichi exclaimed without thinking, then mentally kicked himself as Mimi bit back another sob. Forcing himself to calm down, he asked, gently, "Mimi, how do you know this…?"

"I… I heard Myotismon and one of his henchmon talking about it while I was trapped with the other children…" she murmured, stumbling over the words. "I wanted… I wanted to do something, but… I… I didn't have Palmon with me at the time, and I was… so scared…"

Any remaining control the strawberry-blonde haired girl had vanished abruptly, and Taichi stiffened in surprise as she let out an anguished sob and flung her arms around his shoulders, clinging to him as she cried brokenly. Mimi's tears flowed freely down her face, dampening his shirt, though that mattered little to the holder of Courage as he awkwardly attempted to comfort his friend.

"It'll be alright, Mimi," he whispered, absently stroking her back the same way he did his little sister's whenever he was trying to comfort Hikari.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry," Mimi repeated brokenly over and over again, like a sorrowful mantra.

"It isn't your fault. Mimi, it isn't your fault…"

__

No. It isn't your fault at all, Mimi, Taichi added silently to himself, bronze eyes shimmering as he stared ahead of them sadly, thoughts far away. _It's all mine…_

His eyes darkened as he thought of how they had to appear, a girl clinging desperately to a boy just slightly older than her for comfort, and it reminded him of a similar scene that had played out before him only… what? Hours ago? It seemed so much longer since he had last seen Yamato, with the sobbing Jun draped over him, trying to figure out what to do with the near-hysterical girl…

__

Yamato… I'm sorry… I'll find some way to save you. I promise.

Taichi glanced up toward the ceiling, not really seeing it or the pairs of children and digimon that stood awkwardly a few feet away from where he and Mimi stood, waiting to find out what their next move should be. Miyako and Iori exchanged a worried glance, while Agumon simply gripped Palmon's hand in his own, watching their partners cling to one another. They would wait as long as it took for their friends to calm down enough to tell them they should do next…

__

I promise…


	7. So Close, and Yet...

"Agumon digivolve to…"

Miyako and Iori stared in wide-eyed silence as the orange dinosaur continued his conversion into his Champion form, previously tiny body growing at a tremendous rate. While this was not the first such transformation either child had seen, the first being Palmon's shift to Ultimate during their escape, this was starkly different. Miyako was terror-stricken at the sight of the newly forming creature that towered over them, tan eyes huge with fear as they fixed upon a snarling face, sharp, jagged teeth, and pale red eyes that bore little resemblance to the friendly face she had come to know.

To her credit, however, Miyako did manage to keep herself from screaming outright, instead murmuring fearfully under her breath.

Iori, meanwhile, was content to simply watch, dark green eyes widened as they took in every detail of the transformation with interest. Once again, his silent observation of the scene unfolding before him seemed incredibly different than what one would think normal of a child his age…

However, both Taichi and Mimi were extremely thankful to not have to deal with an overly hyperactive, curious five-year-old boy at the moment. Things were difficult enough as it was, thank you very much…

The two crest bearers were watching the digivolution from a few feet away, both lost in their own thoughts. Mimi was kneeling instead of standing beside Taichi, not wanting to strain her wounds. Just because the injuries was hidden by bandages and her clothes did not mean they no longer ached…

The girl absently fingered her crest with one hand, the other resting gently on Palmon's leafy forehead. Her partner was still exhausted from their earlier struggle to escape, and none of the small group had any objections to the Rookie's desire to rest while she had the chance. Everyone was fully aware of the fact that this was far from over, and they needed to make any recovery they could as quickly as possible…

Standing beside Mimi, digivice and crest gripped tightly in his hands, Taichi watched his partner finish his transformation solemnly, his deep bronze eyes dark with thought. He was fully aware of the risk they were taking: Greymon would be much easier for any searching enemies to locate than Agumon would have been…

But at the same time, he knew there was little choice. Even with her wounds bandaged, there was no way Mimi could hope to cover much ground on foot, and Palmon could not hope to aid her partner in her own current condition. As for the two former hostages, Miyako and Iori, Taichi didn't dare assume that they were in enough shape to trudge along on foot. The risk caused by using Greymon paled in comparison to the risk of making the small group rely on their own feet to carry them.

"…Greymon!" the newly formed Champion digimon roared, throwing back his armored head with a triumphant snarl.

"Alright, let's get moving," Taichi commanded, helping Mimi get to her feet and walk over to where the others were waiting, a half-awake Palmon trailing behind them.

Greymon was already crouching down for them, silently cursing his short, stubby arms, wishing he were able to simply lift his friends onto his back. Instead, they had to climb up using his tail, a process he hoped was speeded up somewhat by his posture. Taichi got on first, easily pulling himself up, then reached down and took Mimi's hands in his own, guiding the girl in her slow, unsteady climb.

"Careful, careful, there we go, easy does it," he coaxed, taking care not to pull her too quickly for risk of straining her injuries.

Palmon, meanwhile, simply wrapped her vines around one of the spikes on Greymon's helmet and swung onto the slightly surprised dinosaur's back. Plodding over to where Taichi was, the plant digimon then extended her vines down to wrap gently around her partner's waist.

"Here you go, Mimi," she said, pulling the girl up to her side.

"Thanks, Palmon," replied Mimi with a grateful nod, before she tucked some slightly disheveled strawberry blonde hair back into place under her hat.

"Yeah, thanks," Taichi echoed, shaking his head slightly and wondering why he hadn't thought of that in the first place. Glancing down to where Miyako and Iori were standing, he frowned as he noticed that neither was making any move to join them on Greymon's back, and shouted, "Hey, hurry up! What's the holdup?"

No reply came, and after a few seconds, Taichi leaned over to get a closer look at the two. It didn't take long for him to realize what was wrong: it was as clear as the stark expression of terror on the purple-haired girl's face. Miyako's wavering tan eyes were saucers behind her slightly askew glasses, fixed solidly on the hulking dinosaur standing in front of her.

Taichi sighed.

"This could take a while…"

Palmon looked over at the boy, then down at where Miyako was standing and shaking. Iori was directly beside the girl and attempting to calm her, without having much luck in that area. After watching this continue for several seconds, Palmon shook her head and sighed.

"Come on, we don't have time for this," she called.

Either Miyako and Iori did not hear her or they outright ignored the plant digimon, for the purple-haired girl continued to stammer and whine incoherently. Finally, Palmon sighed and reached down toward the pair. Miyako let out a startled yelp as strong vines wrapped firmly around her waist and gently lifted her into the air, soon depositing her safely next to Taichi and Mimi.

"Uh… uh… uh…" she gasped, immediately latching onto one of the ridges on Greymon's back and clinging to it as if her life depended on it.

"You know, she reminds me a little of you," quipped Taichi, leaning over to whisper in Mimi's ear.

He instantly regretted this action as the heel of her uninjured foot slammed into his own rather painfully. However, he managed to restrain his reaction to a sharp intake of breath and a muted hiss of frustration. He glared at Mimi out of the corner of one narrowed bronze eye, and her only response was to stick her tongue out at him briefly.

Palmon missed this little exchange, as she lifted Iori up safety onto Greymon's back as well. The young boy carefully tested his footing, green eyes narrowing slightly with concentration, then turned to look at the rest of his companions.

"So where are we headed?" he asked softly.

"Well, we're gonna try to hook up with the rest of our team first," replied Taichi, fidgeting with his goggles as he spoke. "I figure Sora, Koushirou and Hikari must be getting pretty worried about me by now…"

__

Yamato and me, his mind corrected him silently.

"…So we'll take you guys back there, and we'll figure something out from there, okay? Everybody okay with that?"

"Sounds fine to me," Mimi said, nodding, caramel eyes lighting up slightly at the thought of seeing at least some of the others again. She made no effort to disguise the relief in her voice, and Taichi nodded in her direction.

"Alright, then, let's go, Greymon!"

"You got it, Tai!" the Champion digimon growled, and he started forward, silently daring any enemy soldiers to get in his way… he wasn't about to let them anywhere near his friends, not a chance… 

* * *

Koushirou ran a hand through his frizzy spikes of red hair and let out a frustrated sigh, dark eyes fixed solidly on the computer sitting in his lap. For the past few hours he had been trying – unsuccessfully – to modify the program he had used to track the position of Hikari's digivice so it would lock onto the signals of other unidentified digivices. Theoretically, that would allow them to locate other chosen children that had been… 'missed'… by the initial retrieval program that had dumped him and his friends in the Digital World before.

Of course, even that was a gamble. While both Wallace and Ken had shown up with their own digivices and digimon already in tow, little Hikari had initially neither of those things… mainly thanks to Myotismon. Now, thanks to the other's efforts, and especially to Wizardmon, she had both her digivice and her crest, the Crest of Light…

__

…Now all she needs is a digimon, Koushirou mused ironically, a slightly sardonic smirk twisting one corner of his mouth briefly.

He glanced over to where Hikari was sitting: the young girl was playing with the little In-Training Gennai had sent them, Chibimon. Not only did they have a Chosen Child with no Digimon, they also had a Digimon with no Chosen Child…

__

If only she could use him temporarily, just until we picked up Gatomon again… but no, that would be just too convenient, wouldn't it?

Fighting down the utter frustration he felt, Koushirou attempted to calm himself simply by observing the carefree way in which the younger Digidestined were playing with one another. Takeru had joined Hikari, and they had conceived the shy Ken and Wallace to come over with their digimon as well, and the whole lot of them were now engrossed in some simple game. He could hear them giggle from time to time, enjoying themselves, finding a small bit of pleasure despite the horror going on outside their little sanctuary.

Koushirou watched in silence, onyx eyes widening for an instant as a sudden realization struck him: Hikari had a digivice and no digimon, but she had something both Wallace and Ken lacked… a crest. Neither of the boys was wearing or carrying one, and the bearer of Knowledge frowned thoughtfully.

__

I wonder… I wonder where their crests could be… or what they could be, for that matter…

Shaking his head slightly, he turned his attention back toward what the others were doing.

Chibimon, Gummimon and Kokomon were engaged in a simple game of chase and pounce, tumbling around and laughing. Patamon and Gomamon had even joined in the fun, while Biyomon simply watched from nearby in case the play fighting got a little too rough. Wizardmon also gazed at the tumbling, laughing young digimon, a faraway look in his eyes, and as for the others…

…Well, Sora and Jyou were talking softly to Jun, who had descended into another crying fit. As far as he could pick up, this one was over a younger brother who she had been separated from by some of Myotismon's henchmon. The fact that she had no idea where he was or even if he was still alive was obviously weighing down hard on the girl… Koushirou couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

Tsunomon was still cradled in the girl's lap, urging her not to cry. Koushirou was mildly surprised by the fact that the In-Training digimon had not left Jun's side: he would have figured that he would have been much more comfortable with Takeru… Still, since they had been the last ones to see Yamato, he supposed that was reason enough for them to stick close by each other's side for a while…

Then there was Tentomon and Armadillomon… Koushirou mentally rolled his eyes at the thought. The two were seriously not getting along… right now, the bug digimon was crouched beside his partner and glaring daggers over at where the other sat with his armored back turned indifferently on the rest of the group. Armadillomon appeared perfectly content with staring off into the shadows, his dark green eyes seeing who knows what in the darkness…

Koushirou narrowed his onyx eyes slightly, studying the strange Rookie's plated back. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely certain what to make of the animal digimon. While Wallace appeared to trust him, and had told the others of how Armadillomon had saved him and his digimon twins (and why _DID _Wallace have twins, anyway?), the whole matter still nagged at the Child of Knowledge's mind.

__

Why would a partnerless, wild digimon be wandering around the streets like that and just happen to show up when the kid needed help? mused Koushirou silently. _How did he get here in the first place? His desire to fight Myotismon seems genuine enough, but what exactly motivates him? Must be pretty major if he was willing to come all the way here…_

There were other possibilities as well; ones that made Koushirou feel slightly uneasy as he shifted his gaze back to his laptop. After all, Armadillomon had known the name of that one new enemy digimon, recognizing him simply from his description…

__

That doesn't necessarily mean anything, 'Shiro, he quickly scolded himself. _Might be that they're rivals, that they've fought each other before… could be an advantage, if he knows this new digimon's attacks and decides to tell us about it…_

__

…Or they could be partners…

Shaking his head violently, Koushirou concentrated on guiding his fingers over the keys of his laptop, allowing himself to fall back into the familiar, comforting activity. There were simply too many unanswered questions right now, and even the Child of Knowledge could only focus on so much at one time…

Suddenly the steady, clicking melody of keys fell silent as he paused, dark eyes widening slightly as a realization struck him. The abrupt cessation soon caught the attention of the others, and Sora, Jyou and Tentomon glanced over at him in surprise and concern.

"…Hey, 'Shiro, something wrong…?" the blue-haired boy asked haltingly after a moment, giving his friend the once-over as he attempted to determine what had made the boy stop like that.

The frizzy-haired computer genius made no reply, but all at once was bent over his laptop once more, typing furiously. Jyou and Sora exchanged an odd look and sweatdropped, while Jun just stared blankly past them and wondered what was wrong with that weird kid with the computer…

* * *

Narrowed chocolate eyes stared out from beneath a mass of tangled brown bangs defiantly into the darkness, seemingly piercing the shadows themselves. Cold anger and hatred burned in the child's glare, flickering and smoldering despite the fact that the recipient of such anger was currently nowhere in sight.

Gatomon was not entirely certain whether this was a good or bad thing. While she certainly understood and shared the young boy's hatred, the feline digimon also recognized how much of a danger it was. This was only a child, a little human boy, with no special powers of his own. If he pushed Myotismon too far with his resistance, he would have an even lower chance of surviving the vampire's outrage than she did.

Plus, both of them had already seen the effects of Myotismon's anger unleashed on a mere human boy…

Gatomon frowned, struggling not to glance over at the motionless, beaten form suspended a few feet away from her cage. At least Yamato hadn't suffered from any more 'visits' for a while… probably merely because Myotismon still needed the bearer of Friendship alive right now, and had no way of guaranteeing the boy would last through another round of his 'special treatment'.

Raw anger and frustration seethed in the feline's mind, and her sapphire eyes glittered darkly as she pictured her former master gloating over his supposed victory. He was always so damned cocky and assured of himself… it seemed almost impossible to her that she had once served under him. She wondered if she would ever be able to come to terms with that simple, horrible fact.

Well, there was nothing she could do to change that now. All she could do was try to atone for her sins, and pray that the other Digidestined… that everyone… that Hikari… would one day forgive her for what she had once been.

…And that she could one day come to forgive herself…

The steady sound of footsteps drawing closer snapped Gatomon out of her dark musings, and she snapped her head up with an involuntary gasp, blue eyes instantly locking onto the door. Even without being able to see out into the hallway she knew exactly who was approaching. Contrasting emotions warred in her heart, anger mixing with pity, grief with fury and fear.

The footsteps drew closer, then paused just outside the thick door. The feline digimon's sapphire eyes narrowed into slits, every muscle in her small body tensing, waiting for the door to swing open and admit the one she knew was standing there.

Silence. Seconds stretching into an eternity of breathless waiting.

Then, suddenly, the footsteps started up again, moving slowly and steadily…away.

Gatomon blinked, startled, staring at the still shut doorway in surprise. _What in the name of Kamimon was that all about…?_

* * *

Hawkmon kept his expression neutral and completely composed as he slowly walked away from the prisoner's chambers. His talons scraped gently against the smooth floor, a soft, constant noise that went unnoticed by the avian digimon.

The Bakemon guards nervously avoided making eye contact with him, staying out of his way as best they could. All of them knew about the bird's temper and his fierce hatred of their kind, although very few happened to know exactly why. The reason did not matter so much as the result to the ghost digimon.

None of them had any clue as to what was raging through Hawkmon's mind, and even if they had been privy to this knowledge, probably would not have understood or fully comprehended it.

__

…What the hell is wrong with me right now? I should be concentrating on locating those Digidestined brats instead of wasting valuable time standing in front of a door trying to decide whether or not to go inside!

__

…What was I thinking of doing in there, anyway? That blond-haired whelp certainly isn't going anywhere, and isn't in any condition for any more torture – no matter how much that would cheer me up…

__

…Would it now…?

__

…Oh, shut up. Who asked you, anyway…?

__

…So what were you going to do in there, anyway, if not work on slicing the chosen brat a new one…?

__

…I… I'm not certain…

__

…Oh, isn't that just bloody perfect, then? Nice one, Hawkmon, wasting time just standing there not even knowing what you were going to do if you went in there…

__

…Gatomon… I wanted to see Gatomon for a while…

__

Why, to torture her for a change?

__

…No… not torture… to talk…

__

But why the hell would I want to talk to a traitor like her?

__

…We used to talk all the time in the past… she… understood me…

__

Yeah, and then she turned her furry coat on us. Isn't that always the way…?

__

…Heh… of all the digimon in the whole damned digital world… she had to be the one who's partners with the eighth child… the stupid child of Light that is supposed to be the key to stopping Lord Myotismon…

__

…As if he could be stopped…

__

…Pity, that… Gatomon was one of the better fighters in this army… much better than all these hordes of Bakamon…

__

…Who would have thought that she would turn her back on our lord and master like that… all for some stupid humans…

__

…I could never… do such a stupid thing…

Hawkmon paused, a convulsive shudder coursing up his back abruptly. It was like a bolt of electricity had struck his spine and sent him reeling, and he braced himself against the corridor wall, breathing harshly. Thankful that this hallway was deserted, with no stupid ghost digimon to witness his moment of weakness, the avian digimon covered his sweaty face with one wing, dilated ice blue eyes wide and wild behind his feathers.

"Damn you…" he muttered at the human girl whose image was burned so firmly into his subconscious. "Why won't you get the hell out of my mind?!? Who are you…?!?"

No answer came to his hissed query, the corridor remaining silent save for his harsh, heavy breathing. Hawkmon continued to prop himself against the wall and wonder why he suddenly felt so alone, so frightened…

* * *

"Ohhhh boy… oh no… ohhhhh…"

Greymon sweatdropped as he listened to Miyako's whimpering and tried to slow down a little in order to calm the near-hysterical girl down. Taichi was also busy attempting to soothe the purple-haired girl, trying his hardest not to let his frustration show. Her fear was certainly understandable… after all, it was far from normal for someone to ride a huge dinosaur down the city streets.

That didn't make her muted whimpering and moaning any less annoying to Taichi, however. But, glancing over at Mimi and seeing her giving him a certain look, he decided to ignore his frustration as best he could.

"It's okay, Yolei-chan, we're safe," Iori told the purple-haired girl, sounding remarkably cool and collected.

Taichi was a little amazed that the younger boy was accepting all of this so well. He would have pegged any other child at that age as becoming overly hyper and/or hysterical at the concept of dodging ghosts and their vampire leader and fighting back with a dinosaur and a walking plant…

__

…Makes it a heck of a lot easier on us, though…

"Taichi-san?" Iori's soft, whispery voice piped up suddenly.

Taichi blinked, a little flustered, and Mimi giggled behind her hand at her friend's embarrassed expression.

"Whoa, look Iori, just call me Tai, alright?" he asked, aware that his face had turned slightly red.

"…Alright… Tai? How far is it to where your friends are?"

"Um, let's see…" Taichi narrowed his eyes slightly as he thought, trying to recall exactly where the others were located.

"Don't tell me we're lost," Mimi groaned when it seemed to her that Taichi had been thinking for too long.

"Lost?!?" yelped Miyako from where she clung to one of Greymon's spikes.

"We're not lost," Taichi insisted, glaring at Mimi for increasing the violet-haired girl's panic.

"That's what they all say…"

"Waaaaahhhhh!"

"Mimi! You're not helping!"

Turning back to face Iori, Taichi added, "We're still a few blocks away. Don't worry, we'll get there soon."

The goggle-wearing boy shot a quick glare over in Mimi's direction, warning her not to make any more comments on the subject. Her only response was to roll her eyes. Both Iori and Miyako sighed in relief.

"Well, that's good," the soft-spoken child said.

"…Why did you want to know, anyway?" Taichi asked after a few seconds, glancing over at the younger boy.

In response, Iori simply and silently pointed into the air. Taichi, Mimi, Palmon and Miyako each looked up to see a hideous insect-like digimon flying above them, obviously patrolling the city for any sign of the Digidestined.

"…Ah," Taichi said simply in understanding.

"Oh my," whispered Mimi mildly.

"Eep…" Miyako added weakly, caramel eyes huge behind her glasses.

Even as they stared up at it, the evil digimon paused, then swooped down toward them at a dizzying speed. Miyako's meek whimper became a full-fledged shriek as it lanced downward.

"Greymon, watch it!" Taichi ordered, then, quickly, "Everyone, hang on!"

His partner roared in agreement, and as the enemy digimon surged toward them, the orange dinosaur barely managed to duck out of its path. Something sharp clipped Greymon's shoulder even as he moved, and the Champion digimon let out an angry snarl, whipping around to face his opponent as it slowed and pivoted to face them.

Taichi's bronze eyes widened, a look of stark terror that almost matched the expression on the hysterical Miyako dawning on his abruptly pale face. Seeing his terror, Mimi, Iori and Palmon exchanged frightened glances.

"Tai…? …Tai, what's wrong?" the bearer of Purity and Sincerity pleaded, tugging gently on the unresponsive boy's arm.

Taichi was unable to answer, unable to move, barely able to make himself breathe. His wavering brown eyes were locked on the digital monster that even now whirled to face them. Its wings blurred, keeping its suspended in midair just inches above the ground as it floated before them, fragmented eyes blazing. Its long forearms glinted menacingly, driving home the fact that they ended with deadly blades instead of hands.

Taichi gulped, feeling a lump in his suddenly dry throat. His heart pounded in his chest violently, as if at any second it would rip right out. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice shouted fruitless, helpless denials of what his widened eyes were telling him, while another laughed endlessly at the bitter reality.

It was the same digimon that had been responsible for his separation from Yamato.

Snimon.

* * *

"There!"

Koushirou allowed himself a pleased grin as he tapped one final key on his laptop and the computer began to whirl and beep, new displays flashing before his dark eyes.

"You find something, Koushirou?" Sora queried, looking over at the bearer of Knowledge.

"Yeah, I did…"

"Is it my trainer???" Chibimon piped up instantly, garnet eyes filling with hope.

"…No, not quite," Koushirou admitted reluctantly, wincing at having to disappoint the little In-Training.

"Awww…"

Chibimon sank down onto the ground sadly, and Hikari gently scooped the disillusioned digimon into her arms.

"Well, what did you find, then?" asked Tentomon, flying up behind his partner and attempting to look over his shoulder.

"I just got a lock on Taichi and Mimi's digivices," Koushirou explained, turning back to his computer and typing out a few more commands. Glancing up at the others, he added with a growing smile on his face, "It looks like they're together, and heading this way."

"That's a relief," Jyou sighed thankfully, managing a shaky smile of his own at this information.

Sora nodded her agreement, almost echoing Jyou's sigh. Hikari held Chibimon tighter, soft tan eyes shining with emotion, while Takeru managed a grin of his own. He was happy to hear that his other friends were safe, but as long as his older brother wasn't…

The rest of the group glanced at one another, not really knowing for certain just who the others were talking about, but able to tell from the chosen children's relieved tones that this was a very good thing. Koushirou continued to type furiously, attempting to pinpoint his friends' exact position. However, he abruptly froze, onyx eyes going wide.

"Kuso!" he exclaimed, causing the others to jerk with shock.

"What's wrong?" Sora demanded immediately, resisting the urge to leap to her feet at the genius's sudden outburst.

Koushirou looked up at the others grimly, dark eyes glittering faintly as they reflected the light of his computer screen.

"They've just been attacked," he announced dully. "One of Myotismon's digimon just found them."

Now Sora did jump up, the terror in her eyes quickly giving way to resolve.

"Let's go, Biyomon," she commanded, whirling to face her partner.

The pink avian nodded, already on her feet and ready to go. Koushirou stood up as well, laptop tucked under one arm.

"Agreed. The most logical course of action is to go and assist our friends."

"I'm coming too!" Takeru, Wallace and Ken chorused with their respective digimon without even realizing it.

However, Koushirou shook his head in the negative.

"If we all go, we'll attract more attention, and not all of us are in fighting condition," he reasoned. "Jyou, Takeru, you guys should stay here and look after everyone else. It'll be easier that way, and we'll move faster. Sora and I will take Kabuterimon and Birdamon over and help Taichi and Mimi. We'll be back as soon as we can."

Jyou nodded in solemn, silent agreement, a gesture soon mimicked somewhat reluctantly by Takeru and most of the others. Armadillomon, however, stepped forward, dark green eyes locking with Koushirou's own.

"I'm coming too," he said simply, in a tone that brooked no argument.

"…Fine," Koushirou agreed, knowing there was no time to argue the issue. Looking down at Tentomon, then over at Sora and Biyomon, he asked, "Ready?"

They each nodded, and Koushirou pulled out his digivice. Its screen was already beginning to glow, and he held it out towards Tentomon, as Sora pointed hers toward Biyomon. The two Digidestined locked eyes briefly for a moment, then shouted as one.

"DIGIVOLVE…!"


	8. Snimon Scramble

The streets of the city were unnaturally devoid of life for a typical afternoon, though, of course, recent events had been far from typical. Instead of bustling crowds of people making their way from one place to the next, struggling to get to their next destination, the sidewalks were barren. Terrifying monsters stalked down the streets in place of cars, keeping alert for any sign of life. After all, even though their lord Myotismon had already rounded up most of the pitiful humans that had once lived in the towering buildings surrounding them, there were a few… stragglers left… ones that had yet to learn their place…

In fact, four such runaways were currently barreling down one of the streets on the back of an oversized orange dinosaur.

"Taichi! Mimi! What the heck is that thing?!?" Miyako wailed, somehow managing to keep her death grip on one of Greymon's back spikes even as they rounded a corner at top speed.

"It's Snimon! Just hang on!" was Taichi's short, snapped reply.

The brown-haired boy had actually slipped his goggles down over his eyes for once, and those bronze panes shone with frustration as he threw a quick glance over his shoulder to glimpse the insect digimon directly behind them. It didn't appear to be tiring in the least, wings blurring behind it as it sped forward, and in fact appeared to be gaining gradually on them. Its blade arms glimmered in the sunlight almost mockingly, as if taunting the boy with the knowledge of just what it would do once it caught up…

__

Don't think like that, Taichi! You can beat this thing… you just have to figure out how…

He could feel the eyes of the others burning into him, silently pleading for a quick escape. Mimi and Iori were pressed close on either side of him, and both gazed up into his face for answers.

The child of Sincerity and Purity's face was paler than normal, a stark contrast with the strawberry-blonde hair that drifted around and plastered itself in strands to her sweaty forehead. Widened caramel eyes were the only other source of color there, eyes filled with horror and confusion at his reaction. It wasn't like the bearer of Courage to just run away blindly, and they both knew it.

Iori, however, was unaware of this. The younger boy gazed up at him silently, jaden eyes filled with trust: trust that Taichi knew what he was doing, that this was all part of some great plan he was concocting to save them.

The very concept made Taichi feel a little sick.

__

He thinks I can protect him… but I couldn't even protect Yamato from this thing before…

__

NO! Can't think about that right now! I can do this…

Taichi narrowed his flashing brown eyes, glad that he'd thought to pull his goggles down to protect them. The wind was blowing some of his hair into his face, and the last thing he needed was for some of the strands to whip into his eyes…

__

No time left…

Snimon was steadily gaining. If Taichi really was going to have some great plan ready to use against the insect, he would have to think of it in a few seconds…

* * *

"Do you see any sign of them yet, Koushirou?"

"Not yet," the child of Knowledge called back, having to raise his voice significantly in order to be heard over the roar of the wind.

Sora sighed and bit the inside of her lip as her cinnamon eyes shifted back down to the streets so far below them. She shifted her body slightly and wrapped her arms a little tighter around Birdman's thin leg. Although she had flown this high before, it always remained a bit unnerving to look down and realize just how far a fall it would be if something went awry…

Koushirou, meanwhile, was perched on Kabuterimon's back, onyx eyes shifting constantly from the laptop before him to the streets below and back again. His fingers continued their dance over the keys, as the display refreshed again and again while he searched for the others.

"Can't you make this bug go any faster? At this rate, the enemy'll be long done with your friends by the time we get there!"

"I'm working on it, okay?" Koushirou hissed through gritted teeth, casting a quick, annoyed glance back over his shoulder at where his detractor was sitting.

Armadillomon ignored the look completely, instead occupying himself by scanning the streets beneath them with narrowed jaden eyes. The armored rookie practically seethed with impatience: Koushirou could tell he was ready to fight, and fight _now_, and the delay in action was forcing him to take out his aggression in other forms…

However, this wasn't helping matters any. Koushirou knew all too well, especially when he felt Kabuterimon's back stiffen slightly from indignation and anger. Quickly, the boy reached up and rubbed a certain spot between the beetle's shoulder blades, a silent signal to relax and let the insult slide. He could sense his partner's frustration, and could only hope that the insect's bruised ego wouldn't affect his ability to function in the upcoming battle.

His laptop beeped loudly, repeatedly, letting Koushirou know that they were drawing ever closer to their companions. Glancing at the display, then over in the indicated direction, the boy narrowed his dark eyes in concentration.

"Over there!" he shouted, pointing. "Do you see them, Sora?"

"Y-yes!" Sora called back, leaning forward slightly, heart leaping into her throat as her widened tan eyes finally fell upon what they had been searching for… and, to her growing dread, much more. Tugging on Birdramon's leg to get her partner's attention, she shouted, "Let's go!"

"Right, Sora!" the fiery bird replied, and with a piercing cry lanced down to meet Snimon head-on.

The green insect digimon sensed their approach, and fell back just in time to avoid Birdramon's raking claws. As the two spun to face each other, Greymon ground to a halt and turned around.

"Birdramon!" growled Greymon, pale red eyes widening.

"Sora!" Taichi and Mimi shouted.

"Hey you guys!" Sora called back, glancing over her shoulder and smiling briefly.

"Boy, am I ever glad to see you," Taichi said, returning her grin.

"Hey, what about me?" Koushirou shouted as Kabuterimon swooped down to hover at Birdramon's side.

"Koushirou!" cried Mimi, beaming as she spotted the bearer of Knowledge.

However, their welcoming smiles soon faded as they turned their attention back towards their enemy. Snimon glared at the gathered digimon and children with its beady crimson eyes, and raised its scythe-like arms threatening, a low growl rumbling in its chest.

"Careful, you guys! This one's really fast!" Mimi warned, caramel eyes wavering with fear as she hugged Palmon tightly.

"Right," Sora acknowledged the warning with a slight nod.

"Got it," Koushirou added, onyx eyes cold as he studied the digimon, tapping out a series of rapid commands on his laptop.

Armadillomon narrowed his jaden eyes at the boy's back in disgust.

__

Trust a human to waste time filing information when a fight's happening. I'll never understand these creatures…

An outraged shriek of frustration echoed from Snimon as it slid backward, glaring at the newcomers with faceted eyes. This was simply not fair: why couldn't things have remained as simplistic as they had first seemed when it had spotted the refugees? Before, defeating the group's sole defender, the dinosaur digimon, had seemed an easy task – if only it had faced it down straightaway, instead of leading it on some stupid chase through the streets! Now the rebels had the advantage of numbers – three Champions stood in defense of the humans instead of one.

No matter. They would all fall to Snimon's blades.

With another defiant shriek, the insect digimon swept at the nearest offender – which just happened to be Kabuterimon. Instantly the blue bug's wings blurred as it hastily slid backwards, but the bulky digimon could not cleanly avoid the sweeping blow, and Koushirou shouted his partner's name as one of Snimon's bladed arms grazed a thin arm.

"If you don't mind, I'm gonna make certain this oversized bug don't get the chance to cut us down where we stand!" Armadillomon called out, right before springing from Kabuterimon's back and rolling toward Snimon.

"Wait--!" Koushirou warned a bit too late, snapping his head up in alarm.

Taichi and Mimi blinked in surprise at the sight of the unfamiliar digimon shooting toward their opponent, able only to see a yellowish blur of movement. Behind them, Miyako continued to cling to one of Greymon's back spikes and wail, while Iori simply stared at the new digimon and humans in amazement.

Snimon's shrill cry pierced the air as it dodged away from the balled-up rookie, but the triumphant note in its discordant scream became a pained wail as Birdramon and Greymon took advantage of its distraction to launch their respective fire attacks. Angry scarlet and orange flames engulfed the spindly insect, and it crashed to the street, fragile wings scorched.

"All right!" Taichi shouted, pumping one fist into the air, bronze eyes glittering with satisfaction.

__

That was for Yamato, he added silently, secretly wishing Greymon might have been able to land a similarly effective attack on their opponent before…

Suddenly his throat went bone dry as Snimon shook off the effects of the twin blasts and lunged forward, twin scythe-arms sweeping in front of it. Taken off guard by the desperate attack, he opened his mouth to scream a warning, only to find fear had choked off his voice.

Sora had no such handicap.

"Tai--"

--But her warning proved just as ineffectual, for abruptly Snimon was there directly in front of Greymon, skin blackened from the twin flame attacks, obviously in pain, but still attacking--

--and both bladed appendages found their marks, slicing across Greymon's chest, through both the metal chestplate and unprotected, pale orange stomach--

--Greymon was losing power and shifting, shrinking right before their horrified eyes, shrinking right out from beneath Tai and Mimi and all of his passengers--

--Snimon was sweeping toward the falling humans and digimon, and Sora wanted to scream at Birdramon to attack but couldn't because she knew the flames might hit her friends, and Koushirou couldn't order Kabuterimon to use his attack for the same reason but what was happening below them--

--and Mimi was screaming and Palmon was screaming and a girl she didn't recognize was screaming and Sora was screaming right along with them--

--and Taichi's mouth was open but he wasn't screaming at all, but his bronze eyes were filled with the horror he couldn't give voice to right now--

--and a little boy she didn't recognize was falling too but he wasn't screaming either and his hands were gripped tightly in front of him and she could see the shock plainly etched on his face and in those dark jaden eyes--

--and Armadillomon was standing on the ground staring up at the falling humans and digimon in shock and his jaden eyes were huge and then--

--there was a flash and she couldn't see the light was in her eyes and someone was calling out beneath her and it took a moment for her to realize just what it was--

"Armadillomon digivolve to…"

--Koushirou was shouting in astonishment but Sora couldn't hear exactly what he was saying because her mind was screaming at her to save Taichi and Mimi and all her friends but Snimon was still in the way--

"…Ankylomon!"

--Suddenly the light had dimmed and before she could register exactly what had happened Snimon was falling backward as a larger armored ball slammed into its chest and she saw her chance and shouted "Now, Birdramon!"

Sora dimly heard Snimon's death scream, and was vaguely aware of its data dissipating on the wind surrounding her as she and her partner dove forward to intercept their falling allies, but at the moment the foremost thing on her mind was saving them. She could sort out what exactly had happened later.

She felt Birdramon shift her weight slightly as Taichi landed on her back, followed closely by the others. Only then did Sora let out a soft sigh of relief, even as she waved for her partner to land. The second that the fiery bird alighted on the street, the bearer of Love hopped from her perch and ran around to where the others were slowly climbing down, Palmon using her vines to lower each member safely to the ground.

"Tai! Mimi!" she shouted, cinnamon eyes shining as she saw her two friends.

The two looked up at the sound of their names, still a bit dazed from their experience. Mimi was leaning slightly against Taichi, her previous wounds having been a bit jarred and now throbbing faintly under their concealing bandages. Sora flung her arms around both of her fellow Chosen Children, laughing through the tears that were beginning to blur her vision.

"H-hey, Sora," Taichi managed to greet her, smiling somewhat lopsidedly in a pale shadow of his normal self-assured grin.

"Are you…okay?" Sora asked, concerned.

"Hey, is everyone okay down there?" Koushirou shouted down from his perch on Kabuterimon's back as the giant beetle hovered nervously over the group.

"Agumon!" Biyomon cried in anguish as she shifted back to her rookie form and darted over to Palmon.

Taichi, Sora and Mimi instantly spun to stare at their partners, and the bearer of Courage cursed under his breath at his own stupidity as he snapped back to reality.

"Is he…?" he started, then found himself unable to complete the question, stepping forward and reaching with one hand almost pleadingly toward the three digimon.

Palmon looked up and nodded slowly, liquid green eyes filled with a mixture of understanding and relief. Turning to face him, she moved her arms slightly, and Taichi let out a relieved sigh as he saw the tiny pink creature she was holding so carefully. Koromon shifted nervously, huge brown eyes fixed on the ground rather than on his partner and trainer.

"Sorry, Tai," he mumbled softly, embarrassed by his perceived failure to protect his friends.

The bearer of Courage merely smiled, and gently took the In-Training from Palmon. Mimi kneeled beside the plant digimon and hugged her, whispering a soft, "Thank you."

Sora sighed in relief upon seeing that Koromon was all right, then glanced over at where her own partner stood. The rose-feathered bird was also staring at the ground, obviously upset. Sora walked over and put a comforting hand on Biyomon's forehead, causing the avian to look up at her. Her sapphire eyes were bright with tears.

"Homina-homina-homina-homina-homina…"

The three Digidestined turned to see a very shell-shocked Miyako: the lilac-haired girl was kneeling on the ground where Palmon had deposited her, tan eyes widened behind askew glasses. She currently seemed incapable of forming any coherent comments on what had just occurred.

"Miyako?" asked Mimi, slowly getting to her feet. Abruptly her tan eyes widened, and she looked around wildly, calling "Iori! Where's Iori at?"

"Iori?" Sora inquired, blinking at the unfamiliar name.

"The little boy we were with!" Taichi quickly explained, looking around frantically as well.

__

This is real good, Tai, a sarcastic voice chided him silently in his mind. _First you almost forget about your partner after he's hurt right in front – or rather below – you, and now you lost one of those kids you were looking after. You're just batting a thousand today, aren't you?_

__

Shut up, Taichi thought back furiously.

Pushing back any thoughts about what it might mean if you kept arguing with voices inside your head, the Chosen of Courage concentrated on looking around for Iori with the others. Thankfully, he soon spotted him standing just a few feet away, and breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"Iori! You okay, pal?" he shouted, running over to him.

The young boy seemed unaware of the fact that they were calling him: he was currently standing in front of a nearby alleyway, staring with widened green eyes into the darkness. Taichi, Sora and Biyomon dashed over to his side, with Mimi following a bit more slowly in an attempt to hide her limping gait. Koushirou, still on Kabuterimon's back, hovered nervously overhead, onyx eyes fixed on the alleyway as well.

"Did you see what I think I just saw?" the bearer of Knowledge whispered to his partner.

The Champion beetle digimon nodded simply in reply, and gave a short, derisive snort.

"This is just great," he muttered under his breath. "Another one… and it had to be him, of course…"

Koushirou smiled lopsidedly at the comment and tried not to sweatdrop. He had a feeling he'd be hearing a lot from his comrades beneath him soon enough…

"Iori!" Taichi was now at the younger boy's side, and still was getting little response. Confused, upset and more than a little annoyed, Taichi followed his gaze into the alleyway, wondering just what was so…

Bronze eyes suddenly widened, and the chosen of Courage felt his jaw drop.

A pair of large, dark jaden eyes stared back at him from the shadows. While the darkness concealed a great deal of its features, Taichi could see enough – a low-slung, bulky body, thick spikes jutting from an armored back, and a mace-like tail – to come to one obvious conclusion about the creature.

"Another digimon?!?" he cried out, involuntarily taking a step backward as his mind raced furiously. The fact that his partner was still reeling from the aftermath of their last encounter with an enemy was enough to make him curse under his breath as every muscle in his body seemed to tense up.

Beside him, Sora gasped as well, but for a different reason from what Taichi assumed. Her widened cinnamon eyes swept over the new digimon's body, rapidly picking out certain similarities and other visual hints that told her a story far removed from the lines her friend was thinking along.

__

Those eyes… they're exactly the same…

Behind her, Sora heard a sharp intake of breath as Mimi also caught sight of the new arrival. Some part of the child of Love's mind that was not dulled with shock shrieked a warning, and Sora quickly whirled around, tensing as she saw Mimi gripping her digivice and shooting Palmon a meaningful look.  


"Palmon, digi-"

"No, Mimi, it's okay!" shouted Sora, reaching out and grabbing her friend's wrist. Mimi blinked at her, and Sora managed a lopsided smile as she repeated, "It's okay, he's one of the good guys."

__

…I think, she added silently, with a nervous glance over her shoulder at the Champion digimon.

"What? You know this digimon, Sora?" Taichi inquired, daring to shoot his friend a quick, surprised glance and quickly returning his attention to the stranger.

The child of Love nodded, then turned to look up at where Kabuterimon hovered, though she wasn't staring at the beetle digimon so much as she was the figure still perched on its back. Sensing her meaningful look, Koushirou coughed nervously, sweatdropping.

"She's right, Tai," he picked up the conversation, instantly getting the attention of all of those gathered beneath him. Trying to ignore the feeling of so many eyes on him, Koushirou started to type furiously on his laptop, continuing as he did, "While you were out on your mission, we had the… fortune… to meet with a few other allies. One of them was – is – a Rookie digimon named Armadillomon. I'm sending you the data files now…"

Another click, and both Taichi and Mimi glanced down at their digivices as they displayed the basic data for Armadillomon. For once, nobody present launched into a quick vocal run-through of the new digimon's description and abilities.

After allowing a few moments for his friends to scan over the information, Koushirou added, "And according to this, Armadillomon has just digivolved into his Champion form…"

"Ankylomon," the digimon in question supplied for them, stepping back out of the alleyway.

Now that she could see him more clearly, Sora was struck by just how obvious the connection between the two levels was. While most digimon retained a few basic similarities between their evolutions – and she had seen a few where there seemed to be no real connection between certain forms – in this case there was no real question about it. The Champion digimon resembled nothing so much as a bulked-up version of his more childish body.

Spikes now jutted everywhere, from the thick armored shell to the steel anklets that now covered the mammal digimon's short legs. The tail tapered off into a wicked-looking mace. A bronze helmet covered most of the small head, throwing the dark jaden eyes mostly into shadow.

In short, he looked every bit the part of the vicious warrior spirit Sora had glimpsed in Armadillomon before.

He regarded the group with a long, piercing stare, dark green eyes sweeping from one face to the next, analyzing, searching. They rested longest on the wide-eyed face of a five-year-old boy, filling with intensity as they swept up and down the small body. Finally, a slow smirk twisted the Champion digimon's lips, and he stepped forward, his pace steady.

Taichi gasped and jerked forward, only to feel fingers close over his shoulder and hold him back. He glanced back to meet Sora's cinnamon gaze. The bearer of Love shook her head slightly, silently telling him not to interfere. Confused, Taichi looked back to watch what was unfolding before him.

Ankylomon stood gazing down at Iori for a long while in silence, appraising the young boy, drinking in every aspect of his features. The way that short, wispy brown hair framed the innocent face. The small body held at tense attention, ready to take flight if it was needed, though something about the stance hinted at some subconscious thought that it might not be. The curiosity and intelligence shining in the deep jaden eyes…

The Champion's smirk became a knowing smile, as his gaze came to rest on the tiny hands tightly clenched together. A rich light seeped out between the cupped fingers, faint but steady enough for him to see it clearly.

Still smiling, Ankylomon bowed his head toward the silently staring child. His eyes closed briefly, as an aura matching the pale tone of the light in the boy's hands pulsed just under the armored body. The spikes vanished, retracting into the shrinking body, and it was a smirking Armadillomon that looked up at the stunned Iori.

"Pleased to meet you, partner," he greeted simply, his jaden eyes dancing.

"Pa-partner?!?" Taichi sputtered, staring at them with huge bronze eyes. "Y-you mean… he's your…"

Iori looked up at the elder boy and slowly unfolded his hands, revealing the digivice lying in his cupped palms. His youthful face mirrored the confusion on the faces around him, and he looked around as if searching for some explanation from one of the older kids, an answer he couldn't yet find.

"…Iori…" Mimi stepped forward and knelt before the boy, fighting off the confusion she felt as she asked gently, "Where did you get that?"

The boy stared up at her with huge jaden eyes – eyes mirrored in the face of the Rookie digimon at his side, Mimi realized with a start. The primary difference was the fact that Armadillomon's eyes were hardened by cruel experience, while the boy's were still filled with innocence and, for the moment, confusion.

"I… I'm not really sure," he confined, his normally whispery voice dropping even lower and quavering slightly. "When… when we fell, I wished… prayed that we'd be okay, and then this… I felt this warm light, and…"

He shrugged helplessly, holding out the digivice for her inspection. However, Mimi noticed the way that Armadillomon nodded his head slowly as he turned the tale over in his head, understanding glinting in his dark eyes.

"It fits…"

"What does?" asked Taichi, eyeing the mammal digimon warily.

Armadillomon shot the goggle-wearing boy a cool glance as he replied, "When your partner over there started to revert to his baby form, and you fell down, I felt… something. Like I needed to find a way to keep you from going splat even though I didn't know any of you."

"Thanks for that mental image," Taichi muttered, while Miyako and Mimi turned a shade paler and Sora bit her lip.

"I needed to save at least one of you," continued Armadillomon blithely, ignoring the other's reactions as he added, "It didn't matter if the rest of you had a rough landing, so long as my partner here was safe."

"Gee, thanks for your concern," Taichi hissed.

"You're my… partner…?" piped up Iori, giving the Rookie digimon another once-over, verdant eyes the size of saucers.

Armadillomon grinned roguishly and nodded.

"Yup, sure am," he affirmed in an overly cheery tone. "That little thing in your hands is called a digivice, and it'll help me unlock my true power."

__

…And, hopefully, give me the strength I need to get my revenge, he added silently to himself, jaden eyes glinting at the thought.

Iori stared at the plated Rookie for a long moment, then back at the digivice still resting carefully in his cupped hands. The five-year-old boy's face was awash with a mixture of emotions: shock blending with excitement, awe with fear, disbelief with a steadily fading confusion.

A hand squeezed his shoulder, and Iori looked up at Mimi. The child of Sincerity and Purity smiled, though her caramel eyes swirled with hints of many of the same emotions he was feeling. First and foremost, however, he saw the kind, welcoming smile that graced her heart-shaped face.

"Come on, Iori," she prompted gently. "We can explain what this means a little more on the way back to the others."

"That's right," and suddenly Taichi was starting to take control of things again, jumping at the chance to mask his own mixed feelings on the new situation by assuming the role of leader. Stepping forward, he turned to Sora and asked, "Is Biyomon up to digivolving again so she can help Kabuterimon fly us back to the hideout?"

Sora turned to her partner: the rose-feathered avian nodded, and the girl replied, "Yeah, we can handle it."

"Good." Taichi cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted up, "Yo, 'Shiro! Why don't you land that thing so you can take on some passengers?"

"Will do, Tai," Koushirou replied.

"Just so long as that flimsy-plated moron doesn't climb up here and play backseat flyer anymore…" Kabuterimon amended under his breath, grumbling.

Koushirou did not bother to say anything in reply to his partner's comment. The child of Knowledge merely sweatdropped.

Biyomon shifted into her larger form, and as the chosen children began to climb on board the pair of Champion digimon, Miyako stared at them with huge, saucer-sized eyes. At the moment, she didn't really mind the fact that none of them were paying much attention to her presence: it sure beat having one of those huge monsters glaring down at her… Even if they were supposed to be friends.

So far, it looked like all of these new kids she had met owned… what had Mimi called them again? …'Digimon' partners of their own. Mimi's walking plant who turned into a fairy-type thing had been alright, but when the little reptile who had shown up with the goggle-boy turned into a hulking dinosaur… that had been a bit much. Now there was also a nice-seeming girl with a bird, some kid who hadn't even hopped off the back of that hideous bug he'd flown in on…

And even Iori seemed to have one of his own now, if she understood what the others were saying exactly. That huge spiky yellow thing that had smashed the green bug trying to kill them (that fact alone made her feel a little better about its presence, even if those spikes did look nasty) was apparently Iori's… guardian? Partner…

Well, he was more than welcome to that monster. At least Miyako hadn't found herself saddled with some strange creature claiming she was destined to fight alongside them yet… A possibility she did not like in the slightest. She just hoped hanging around these people wouldn't cause whatever made them 'chosen ones' or whatever to rub off on her… she liked her normal, non-chaotic life just fine, thank you very much!

__

Would it really be so bad, though, to have a friend like that? Even if we did have to fight a lot, at least we wouldn't be alone…

A flurry of images flashed through the lilac-haired girl's mind, a grisly montage of all the hideous monsters that had attacked her so far. Vivid memories of being dragged out of her own home by a flood of fanged ghosts, screaming, certain she and her family was about to be killed… …Watching as first her parents, and then each of her siblings was dragged away from her, taken away one by one to who knew where… …Meeting a girl who claimed she was allied with one of the monsters, and that they would escape, and then seeing Mimi nearly get slashed to pieces by a single digimon's ruthless attacks…

…Ice cold blue eyes locking with her own, boring into her very soul…

Miyako shook her head violently in an attempt to dispel the dark images.

__

These digital monsters are nothing but trouble! she told herself firmly, tan eyes raking the ones surrounding her. _My life was… well, not perfect, but certainly NORMAL enough before they started showing up!_

__

I just want this whole mess to be finished so things can go back to the way they were. No creatures roaming the streets, no having to run and hide, no fighting… I wanna be able to go home with my family!

"Miyako, come on!" Mimi's shout drew the younger girl's attention.

Looking over, she saw that the pink-clad maiden was now seated on Birdramon's back, nestled snugly between its wings along with Palmon, Sora, Iori and Armadillomon. Taichi had carried his weakened partner onto the beetle digimon's back, and was sitting just behind the frizzy-haired kid with the laptop.

"Hurry up, Miyako!" Taichi called, reaching out to pull her up beside him.

Sighing, the lilac-haired girl took a deep breath and pushed her crooked glasses back into place. Closing her eyes, she stepped forward and allowed Taichi to pull her onto the blue insect's back, struggling to think of anything other than what she was climbing up on.

She'd stay with them for now, since they could protect her. No matter what, she needed to survive so that she could get back to her family and hopefully get back to normal after this mess was resolved.

Miyako just hoped they wouldn't try to saddle her with a digimon partner and drag her into this war game. That was the last thing she needed…


	9. Incomplete Unity

Hikari rocked gently back and forth, wavering tan eyes half-closed and filled with obvious concern. In her lap, Chibimon squirmed uncomfortably and looked up at her sadly, not knowing what he could do to cheer up the young girl.

A sullen silence had fallen over the entire group of children and digimon, in fact: each lost in their own thoughts and concerns as they waited with baited breath for any word from those who were absent.

Jyou was naturally the most anxious-looking of the members: the eldest Digidestined was all but pacing back and forth in a futile attempt to relieve his apprehension. He continually fidgeted with his digivice, attempting to get a steady lock on any other digivices in the surrounding area so that he might keep an eye on his friends' actions even from a distance. His glasses kept slipping down his nose, forcing Jyou to keep pausing long enough to nudge them back into place.

His partner's mood was even beginning to affect the normally cheerful Gomamon, and the white seal digimon's attempts to distract Jyou – or any of the others, for that matter – were so far not meeting with a lot of success. The typical wisecracks and puns just didn't seem to be getting through to anyone…

Jun huddled next to Jyou, primarily because the eldest Digidestined wanted to keep an eye on her wounds – the last thing anybody wanted was for the girl's injuries to become infected. The frizzy-haired girl was curled up into a ball, knees pulled up almost to her chest, arms wrapped around the small bundle resting in her lap.

Tsunomon still had yet to stray far from Jun's side, and was currently half-asleep in her lap. The orange In-Training's thick horn rested gently against one of the girl's cheeks, something she oddly appeared to fail to notice. Then again, it was possible that she was also nearly asleep: after all, neither had recovered fully from their nightmarish ordeal… one that wasn't anywhere near finished yet.

Wallace had actually managed to fall asleep, curled up on his side with Gummimon and Kokomon on either side of him. The boy's arms were resting gently beside his partners, and he absently hugged them a little tighter as he stirred briefly in his sleep.

Wizardmon was sitting directly by the stairs to the platform, head bowed, absently turning his staff over in his hands as he continually scanned the group. His gaze tended to drift primarily toward Hikari, and while he appeared lost in thought, the others were certain he was prepared to help protect them should the need arise…

Ken, Takeru, and their respective partners Minomon and Patamon were sitting together, the digimon sleeping in their human's laps. Takeru was gripping the Crest of Friendship tightly in one hand, while the other rested on where the Crest of Hope hung round his neck. Ken gazed at the piece of jewelry for a long moment, before looking up at the blonde's tense face, violet-blue eyes shining with understanding.

"I'm sorry about your brother," he murmured, causing Takeru to look over at him in surprise.

"Wh…what are you talking about?" he sniffled, smiling at the darker-haired boy. "Ma…Matt'll be fine, you'll see! My big brother's a survivor… always has been…"

Takeru blinked back the tears in his wide blue eyes and forced a grin for Ken's benefit, only to see the other boy sigh and turn away. Confused by this, and wondering for a moment if Ken hadn't been convinced by his act, he almost missed it when the newer chosen child mumbled something under his breath.

"…Osamu was a survivor too…"

"…O…samu…?" repeated Takeru, blinking as he turned the unfamiliar name over in his mind.

Ken stiffened, and swung to stare at Takeru with wide, horrified indigo eyes. The stark expression of sorrow on his face combined with the way he had been acting caused a thunderbolt of abrupt understanding and comprehension to explode in the bearer of Hope's mind. For a moment, all the blonde-haired boy could do was stare at Ken, the surprise in his wide sapphire eyes soon transforming into sympathy. Ken winced at the look on Takeru's face and bowed his head, allowing his dark navy bangs to fall over and cast shadows over his pained expression.

"…Ken…" Takeru stared, trailing off as he wondered what he could possibly say.

Words eluded the bearer of Hope, however. The realization that his newfound friend had lost somebody close to him – paired with the fact that Takeru himself was faced with the terrifying possibility of facing the same sort of loss – effectively rendered the youngster mute.

How could he comfort Ken when he was currently praying that he didn't end up in the same situation…?

"…Ken…" he repeated, feeling a need to say something, anything to the other, even if he couldn't soothe the pain the other was undoubtedly feeling.

"………"

Ken avoided the blonde's eyes, absently stroking Minomon's forehead as he gazed at the In-Training sleeping in his lap. The tiny larva digimon stirred at his touch, dark eyes fluttering open slightly.

"…Ken-chan…?" he cooed, gazing up at his partner through sleep-blurred eyes.

Ken glanced down at Minomon and managed a smile, though it was painfully obvious to anyone who could see his face clearly that it was false. However, the little In-Training's mind was still fogged by exhaustion, so the fake expression soothed him back into slumber.

As soon as Minomon's eyes closed again, and he felt the tiny body relax, Ken raised his head slightly to meet Takeru's steady gaze halfway. The boy's dark bangs still covered most of his face, yet his indigo eyes spoke volumes for him in place of his voice.

Before the awkward scene could continue any farther, however, a clatter directly beneath them caused both boys to jerk and stare with wide eyes down towards the entrance of the warehouse. They were not the only ones who started at the commotion: Hikari sprang to her feet, Chibimon still clutched tightly in her arms. Jyou was also on his feet in an instant, Gomamon at his side, and Wizardmon stood at the stairs ready to fire his attack, should the intruders turn out to be unfriendly…

A tense silence, broken only by the sound of the warehouse's doors creaking open. Jyou's onyx eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he strained desperately to make out any clue to the identity of the new arrivals…

"Careful, don't make such a racket!"

"Well, sorry! When's the last time anyone oiled this door's hinges, anyway? How is anyone supposed to turn this into a decent hideout…"

"Quit yapping and get in before someone spots us!"

"Are you sure this is the right place…?"

"Trust me, it's the right spot alright!"

Jyou heaved a mental sigh of relief, feeling as if the huge burden he felt he carried had just been lightened a bit by the mere sound of the familiar voices. Behind him, Hikari squeezed Chibimon a little tighter, and the blue In-Training glanced up at her in concern.

"Hey, Hikari, why are your eyes leaking?" he queried, concerned.

"I'm just happy," assured the girl, smiling down at her companion, before she raised her voice to call out, "Taichi!"

"Hikari!"

A rapidly ascending clatter of footsteps on metal, and soon a crest of wild brown hair rose into view, capped by a pair of goggles. Chibimon almost recoiled from the unexpected sight, yet Hikari seemed oddly overjoyed. The girl dashed forward, the blue In-Training still in her arms, and into the waiting embrace of the strange newcomer. Chibimon squirmed, finding himself caught in the middle of the siblings' reunion.

"Taichi, I'm so glad you're alright!" cried Hikari, burying her face in her brother's chest.

"You too, Hikari…" was all Taichi could think to say, wrapping his arms round her shoulders and pulling her close to him.

Behind the pair, Sora climbed onto the platform, followed closely by Biyomon with Koromon held protectively in her wings. Seeing the two siblings holding each other, the cinnamon-eyed bearer of Love smiled and absently placed one hand over her crest.

Koushirou and Tentomon arrived next, and the child of Knowledge offered a helping hand to the person behind him, pulling a reluctant Miyako up. Jyou instantly noticed the new arrival, yet chose not to make a comment right then, instead merely shaking his head at her appearance.

He did react, however, when Iori climbed up with Armadillomon. Dark eyes widening as they glimpsed first the digivice clutched in the younger boy's hands, then just how close the previously aloof Rookie was standing to the newcomer, Jyou shot an inquiring glance at Sora, who nodded her head in silent affirmation.

Then the blue-haired boy's breath caught in his throat, for the final two members of the new arrivals had climbed into view. Mimi helped Palmon make the last few steps onto the platform, then turned and noticed the child of Honesty and Reliability watching her. She paused, blinked wide caramel eyes, then smiled and brushed a few loose strands of strawberry blonde hair back into place under her pink cowboy hat.

"Hey. Sorry it took us so long to get back here," she offered, along with a placating smile.

Her gaze shifted to the others gathered around them, and the reassurance and apology in her eyes faded to confusion as she noted several unfamiliar faces.

"Uh… How much have we missed…?" she asked uncertainly, blinking.

"Oh, I'd say we've all got a few stories to tell," replied Jyou, readjusting his glasses as he cast a meaningful glance toward where Miyako and Iori were standing.

Noticing and understanding his look, Sora nodded agreement and added, "I think introductions are in order, everybody…"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Taichi agreed, finally loosening his grip on Hikari.

A faint coughing noise caught his attention, and the bearer of Courage looked down to see a pair of huge garnet eyes staring back up at him. The tiny blue digimon they belonged to gasped for precious air, then blinked twice before refocusing his intense gaze on the boy's face.

"Uh…Why don't we start with you, little guy?" offered Taichi.

"Oh, right," and Hikari stepped backward, pulling the In-Training back with her. Supporting the little blue digimon carefully, she began, "This is Chibimon. Gennai sent him to us after you and Yamato left, saying he's partners with one of the lost Chosen Children…"

"Not…yours…?" asked Taichi slowly, just to confirm.

Hikari shook her head, hugging Chibimon a little tighter as she replied sadly, "No, he belongs to another Digidestined that we haven't quite managed to locate yet…"

"Yeah, and we've found a whole bunch, too," chimed in Takeru, waving one arm in Ken and Minomon's direction. "Jyou and I met Ken here when we were trying to find you guys…"

"So we could give Hikari-san her crest," added Wizardmon from where he stood on the edge of the group. "We also came across Jun-san on the way back…"

"Jun-san?" echoed the girl in question, blinking at the title.

"Jun?" Taichi cried at the same time, whirling to stare at the girl.

Jun looked over at him, getting her first real good look at the boy's face since his arrival in the warehouse, and let out a gasp.

"Hey…" she pointed at him with one trembling hand, while hugging Tsunomon in a death grip in her lap, "You're the boy that was with Matt-sama when we were escaping!"

"You're that girl that wouldn't let go of Matt!" shot back Taichi at almost the same moment. Seeing Tsunomon in her arms, the bearer of Courage goggled at her and blurted out, "What are you doing with his partner?"

"What happened to the other kids?" Jun asked urgently, missing Taichi's question. "Did you get them to safety alright?"

"What happened to you?!?" they demanded in almost perfect unison, practically matching each other's worried and confused tones.

The rest of the group just glanced around at each other. Lost and confused expressions graced the faces of every child and digimon present. Finally, Wizardmon stepped between Taichi and Jun and held his hands out as if to separate them, cutting off their volley of unanswered questions.

"I think Sora-san was correct… We need to get this sorted out," he told them, as calmly as he could manage. "One at a time, please…"

An obliging silence fell, as all eyes turned to the cloaked digimon for guidance. Wizardmon resisted the overwhelming urge to sweatdrop at the feeling of so many people paying attention to him, and took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Taichi-san, perhaps you could start us off by explaining how you happen to know this young lady…?" he offered, turning toward the goggle-wearing boy.

Taichi took a deep breath and nodded, bronze eyes flicking briefly to where Takeru was sitting and watching him intently.

"Okay… I guess this all started when Yamato and I decided to try and free some of the hostages…"

* * *

Wavering cobalt pools cracked open, their dull, half-focused gaze shifted from the cracked concrete below to the shadow-wreathed ceiling above as Yamato tilted his head back.

"Save your energy," a female voice ordered from somewhere nearby. The voice sounded used to giving commands, yet something about the tone suggested a genuine concern for the boy rather than the icy cruelty detachment one in his position might expect.

"W-wh…" he struggled to reply, finding his lips refused to shape the words.

"Save your energy," repeated the same voice firmly. A sigh followed, as she murmured, "Trust me, you're going to need it…"

"…Ga…tomon."

Yamato craned his neck slightly toward where he had heard the voice, and was not surprised to see the feline Champion sitting in a cage some distance away. He had known for some time of her presence – ever since he had been first brought in here and suffered through the attentions of Myotismon's guards. After all, she had shouted at them to stop – a command that had fallen on deaf ears.

For a moment, however, he had failed to recognize her voice, drifting as he was between the horrors that of consciousness brought and the sweetness of painless oblivion…

Gritting his teeth as he nonetheless fought to retain awareness for the time being, Yamato shifted as best he could, attempting to turn despite his bonds. Recognizing his primary reason for straining himself in this manner, Gatomon caught the corner of his eye and nodded.

"The kid's alright," she reassured him. "They haven't bothered to touch him…"

__

Yet was the single, unspoken thought that passed through both minds, even as Yamato allowed his battered body to relax a bit at the feline's simple statement.

The subject of their short conversation was curled up in a shadowy corner of the room, a tightly wrapped bundle of arms and legs. Gatomon could see that the boy's piercing auburn eyes were closed for once: despite the growing hopelessness of their situation the mysterious child was at least managing to get a bit of sleep.

Neither Yamato nor Gatomon had been able to puzzle out the reason for the dark-haired child's being locked in the same prison yet. Myotismon had thankfully failed to lay a single finger on the stranger since throwing him in with them; he lay forgotten in the shadows while the vampire taunted his two seemingly more valuable captives with threats of what their fellow Chosen would face once they fell into his clutches.

Sapphire eyes hardened slightly as a familiar spike of anger coursed through the blonde-haired boy. Maybe the strange child's presence was meant to serve as a reminder of his own little brother. The kid was the same age as Takeru, after all…

However, the surge of rage-fueled energy passed all too quickly, and Yamato let his head fall back down upon his chest as a shallow sigh passed his cracked lips. No matter what Myotismon's game was, there was little the child of Friendship could do about it now. He had screwed up, allowed himself to fall right into the vampire's hands – at this point, all he could do was hang on and hope for even the dimmest chance that his turn might come up again.

From behind the twisted bars of her cage, Gatomon watched in grim silence as the child of Friendship allowed himself to slip back into a semi-coma. As the pain-dimmed sapphire eyes drifted closed, the feline Champion shook her head in disgust. It ached to think that the only way they could survive was to succumb to the pain, accept its presence in their miserable lives, but…

__

If it were just me, I wouldn't waste a second in finding a way to bust out of here and pay Myotismon back for all of this. But with these kids…

The irony was all too apparent to her: now that Gatomon was no longer being tortured by her captors – at least, no longer in a physical sense – she was able to rest a bit, regain enough strength to try making a break for it. But those beatings had been shifted to Yamato, making it impossible for the child of Friendship to be anything more than a liability. If she ran, there was no way she could take him with her. She dared not leave him alone, knowing full well that if she did manage to escape, Myotismon would take it out on his remaining captives – and Yamato would never survive the punishment the enraged vampire would inflict upon him.

Then there was the other boy, the mysterious child. Gatomon had no doubt that he would also be a target of Myotismon's vengeance should she make a break for it – unless she attempted to sneak him out as well. Again she sighed: trying to get a little kid currently determined to pay his captor back in any way possible was not a task the feline believed she could fulfil successfully.

In truth, the presence of the two human children – as well as all the other hostages Gatomon knew her former master had taken – bound her here more firmly than the walls of her cage ever could. 

A frustrated snarl curled her lips, and deep blue eyes seemed to glow faintly in the dim light as Gatomon balled her gloved paws into fists, clenching the bars so tightly that her claws began to dig a bit into the cold metal.

Myotismon would pay. Gatomon would see to it that the haughty vampire died for his sins – even if it meant her own deletion. She would gladly die if only given the chance to glimpse her former commander's fall before her final breath…

* * *

Jun shifted from side to side nervously, fully aware of the fact that Taichi was staring at her again. The bearer of Courage had watched her intently as she related the tale of what exactly had happened, with Tsunomon chiming in to fill in the blanks, especially when it came to the digimon they had encountered. Jun was far less experienced when it came to dealing with digimon, after all, and the little In-Training could give his fellow chosen details she simply couldn't even begin to remember.

A tiny shiver ran down the frizzy-haired girl's back, and she pulled her knees a bit closer to her chest.

__

Why am I even here? I'm not like the rest of these… Digidestined… I'm not… chosen…

Wavering brown eyes glided from side to side, resting briefly on each pair of partners. Almost all of the other children present had a digimon with them; one even had what appeared to be twins currently fighting for space in his lap. Only five of those present were without partners: Tsunomon, Chibimon, Wizardmon, Miyako, and herself.

A concerned frown twisted Jun's face as thoughts of Yamato pushed back into her mind, brought forward by the thought of poor little Tsunomon. The orange In-Training had strayed from her lap for a while, going over to join the bouncing pink head the others called 'Koromon'. From what she had been able to understand of their conversation, that little rabbit-eared thing was supposed to be the same hulking dinosaur that had helped Taichi and Yamato bust them out of their prison…

Jun shook her head. Shape-changing creatures that were both invading her home and attempting to save it, talk of vampires, chosen children, digivices and crests… It all seemed so strange, so alien. If she hadn't become involved in this, she would have thought they were discussing some sort of video game plot.

__

And where do I come into all of this? Am I just a bystander, a victim…? Was I not meant to know about all this stuff going on…?

__

Why am I here…?

Another cold shiver ran through the girl as she huddled into a smaller ball, as if trying to shrink out of sight, to be forgotten, ignored. Certainly the 'Digidestined' did not appear to be paying much mind to her at the moment, as they attempted to sort out their stories and figure out what to do next.

Not that she could blame them for not paying a lot of attention to her. After all, she wasn't one of them. She didn't have a digimon partner to protect her and help in the fight against this… Myotismon.

Her only tie to their group was that she had promised Matt-sama that she would protect his partner and crest… a promise she had somehow managed to keep thanks to the intervention of some of his friends. Beyond that, what role could she play other than that of unfortunate victim – a living reminder of what their enemy had done, splitting up her family and taking everything she knew away…?

Tears began to brim in Jun's eyes, and she buried her face in her arms, biting the inside of her lip as she fought the urge to weep. Her parents were gone, her younger brother was still in that demonic bat's clutches, and there was nothing she could do about it other than plead with those who might be able to make a difference…

Her near-silent struggle to withhold her emotions did not go entirely unnoticed. Miyako shot the older girl a look of concern; she had chosen to sit next to her while the 'chosen' discussed their next move, since neither had any digimon partners. After pushing her slipping glasses back into place with one finger, the purple-haired girl placed a comforting hand on Jun's shoulder, causing the other girl to raise her head just enough to look over at her.

"Hey…What's wrong?" she asked, immediately regretting the words the instant she spoke them. Silently, she berated herself: _What's not wrong right now, Miyako? We've both been pulled into something way over our heads. Fighting horrible monsters from another world with nicer monsters…?_

"…I-I…" Jun paused, took a deep, shuddering breath, and blinked to clear some of her tears away as she softly declared, "I want a digimon partner too."

"…What?"

Miyako stared at the frizzy-haired girl with widened caramel eyes, not even noticing when her glasses slid down slightly again. Surely she couldn't have heard right…!

"I want a digimon partner of my own," repeated Jun, more clearly and firmly this time. Looking back down at her knees, she continued, "I can't stand thinking about my poor little brother Daisuke, back in that prison… I want to save him, but I can't, 'cause I'm not… chosen…"

Unaware of the fact that her words had attracted the attention of the others, Jun sniffled once, and rubbed her nose with the back of one wrist. She closed her eyes, feeling moisture seep through her eyelashes, and stubbornly wiped her tears away.

"I just want… I wish I could help him, and find my parents, and have everything back the way it was again," she went on miserably. "But I can't do anything…! I'm not… special enough, to be able to help anyone…"

Miyako continued to gape at her open-mouthed, temporarily too stunned to even protest the notion that not being one of the Digidestined meant she was somehow robbed of all real worth. The chosen children looked equally stunned by this frank emotion, as several of the elder members looked at Jun sympathetically.

"She can't think she's worthless just because she doesn't have a digimon, can she?" Wallace asked Sora in a whisper, unconsciously holding his twin In-Trainings a little closer.

Sora just shook her head in dismay and started to get up, intent on going over and sorting Jun out. She was obviously not the only one with this idea, as Jyou, Koushirou and Takeru also moved to stand. However, another member proved to be quicker than all of them.

"Hey, come on Jun, don't be like that!"

Jun stifled a gasp and snapped her head up sharply, staring over at the Digidestined wide-eyed. Taichi shook his head and locked eyes with her, holding her gaze as he stood up and adopted one of his regular, confident stances.

"If it weren't for you, Myotismon would have Tsunomon and the Crest of Friendship right now, and we'd be even worse off! So don't act like you aren't able to make a difference!"

"………" Jun blinked rapidly, then shook her head, saying, "But I couldn't save Matt-sama, or my brother… I can't save anyone…"

"You saved me, Jun," Tsunomon piped up, hopping over to the girl's side. Gazing up at her with soulful bronze eyes, he went on, "That Hawkmon would have deleted me if you hadn't rescued me."

"………"

"I know it hurts that you had to leave Yamato behind like that. Believe me, I know," sighed the orange In-Training. "But I'm afraid it just couldn't be helped. Instead of focusing on what we couldn't do then, we have to try and think of what we can do now…"

Jun sniffled again, but didn't look away from Tsunomon, obviously thinking over his words. Focused as they were on what was playing out before them, nobody else noticed that Taichi was also staring at the digimon of Friendship, his face awash with conflicting emotions.

Finally, Jun glanced away and murmured, "But what can I do? I don't have the power to save my brother or anyone from this… Myotismon…"

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't tell me you've forgotten!"

Again Jun's gaze turned toward Taichi, as the bearer of Courage flashed her a determined smile and declared, "Remember what I told you before, okay? I promised that we've gonna rescue everyone, including your little bro and Yamato!"

"You mean it…?" Jun asked, her voice cracking a bit.

"Of course!" and Taichi grinned in his confident manner, winking as he added, "We're the Digidestined! There's nothing we can't do together!"

Jun managed a shaky smile, while Sora, Koushirou, Jyou, Mimi and Takeru exchanged a knowing look.

"Now that's the Taichi I know," commented Mimi softly, smiling in relief at the reappearance of the courageous personality she knew so well.

"All right!" Koromon cheered, bouncing up and down and rejoicing.

Taichi beamed at the sight of his partner recovering from his wounds, even as a slight burst of pain silently twisted within him as he noticed Tsunomon hopping alongside the pink In-Training. The knowledge that he had screwed up so badly and allowed a friend to fall into Myotismon's clutches still rankled deep inside him, but he couldn't let that show right now. He'd wallowed in self-pity for too long, and it was time to try actually doing something to help make up for his mistakes.

This was his true calling, after all. He was supposed to be the leader of the Digidestined, and it was high time he got back to what he did best: defeating evil digimon and fighting to save both worlds.

The eyes of his friends and fellow chosen were all upon him, familiar faces joined by the new recruits they had stumbled across. That was one advantage they had gained right there: they'd come to try and find one lost Digidestined only to discover several. Myotismon was only expecting a single new member who was currently without her digimon, not a team that had just increased by more than half their original number.

"Myotismon had better get ready," declared the child of Courage, clenching a fist in front of him and grinning confidently. "That vampire's about to find himself up against the new and improved Digidestined!"


End file.
